Finance
J.P. Morgan: Private, Digital Identities Key to Scaling Financial Blockchains | PYMNTS.com
What can blockchain technology do for financial services in a friendly regulatory environment?
With a new president coming in 2025, the ecosystem is about to find out. Donald Trump has promised to the industry that he — the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under his administration — would be more crypto-friendly.
Against a backdrop where traditional financial players are warming their cold shoulders to the blockchain space, when banks are discussing real-world use cases for crypto, they tend to default to stablecoins for payments.
For example, on Thursday (Nov. 7), UBS announced it had created and piloted UBS Digital Cash, a blockchain-based payment solution, while a day earlier on Wednesday (Nov. 6), J.P. Morgan announced a significant enhancement to its own blockchain platform, recently rebranded from Onyx to Kinexys.
But that’s not all J.P. Morgan announced. The banking giant also released a whitepaper entitled Project EPIC: Fueling Tokenized Finance with On-Chain Enterprise Privacy, Identity, and Composability (EPIC).
The paper, as the title implies, explores the use of blockchain technology to enhance privacy, identity and composability within financial ecosystems.
“Our aim is two-fold: to articulate the challenges and opportunities in this space and to catalyze industry-wide dialogue and action,” the bank said.
As the regulatory landscape evolves, that appears to be an increasingly common view held by traditional financial institutions (FIs).
Read more: A Pro-Crypto President: What Trump 2.0 Holds for Blockchain’s Future
Unlocking the Full Potential of Tokenized Assets
One of blockchain technology’s core features is transparency — a double-edged sword in finance. The open nature of blockchains offers a high degree of trust and visibility, enabling anyone to verify transactions. However, the lack of privacy presents a significant obstacle for many potential users, particularly institutional participants wary of publicly sharing sensitive financial information.
In a world where sensitive financial data and transactions may be increasingly exposed to public scrutiny on-chain, there’s a pressing need to address privacy and identity challenges within crypto.
Per the J.P. Morgan paper, “the lack of mature, on-chain cryptographic privacy solutions, coupled with the absence of consensus on implementing privacy-preserving digital identity, continues to create operational friction in tokenized asset interactions. While these challenges are not entirely gating — as demonstrated by the $2-3B raised through on-chain funds and approximately $200B in stablecoins, protocol treasuries and public chain lending protocols — solving for them could broaden adoption.”
In an interview with PYMNTS posted Friday (Nov. 8), Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard, explained that the real potential of blockchain can only be realized when users can interact with the network in a trusted, verifiable manner.
“But while the underlying infrastructure enables you to transfer value, it doesn’t really lend itself to doing so in a very easy way,” he added, noting that the “experiences are hard.”
As PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest report revealed, regulated industries, including healthcare and financial services, must adhere to numerous requirements, such as know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and data privacy regulations. Blockchain could help these industries in that regard.
Read more: Visa, PayPal and Others Could Bring Utility and Legitimacy to Stablecoins
How Solving Privacy and Identity Challenges Could Broaden Adoption
“Privacy-preserving, reusable digital identity solutions are fundamental to unlocking tokenization’s full potential, enabling streamlined onboarding, real-time verification, and programmable compliance,” the J.P.Morgan report noted.
However, this journey requires a collaborative effort from developers, regulators and industry stakeholders to ensure that these solutions are both technically feasible and regulatory compliant.
In the near term, the momentum of stablecoins, protocol treasuries and on-chain lending demonstrates the system’s viability.
PYMNTS recently sat down with Ran Goldi, senior vice president, payments and network at Fireblocks, and Nikola Plecas, head of commercialization, Visa Crypto, to dissect the benefits and myths surrounding blockchain-based payments, how to think about real-world applications and how to unlock new revenue streams using blockchain. Stablecoins, the panelists said, offer advantages over existing payment systems, including native programmability, strong auditability, fast settlement, self-custody options and seamless interoperability.
However, as tokenization becomes more integral to the financial sector, privacy and identity will transition from “nice-to-haves” to essential requirements. Meeting these needs will be key to fostering a secure, scalable and inclusive ecosystem where tokenized assets can truly thrive.
Gen Z may be decades away from retirement, but the steps they take today can significantly impact their future financial freedom.
Learn More: The Money You Need To Save Monthly To Retire Comfortably in Every State
Read Next: The New Retirement Problem Boomers Are Facing
With time on their side, small, smart investments can now compound into significant returns later. Whether it’s spending $100 on a one-time financial consult, a subscription to a savvy budgeting app or even investing in a starter index fund, the key is starting early and wisely.
Here’s the best $100 Gen Z can spend on retirement planning.
Budgeting apps and robo-advisors can turn passive habits into active wealth-building strategies. For Gen Z, investing a small fee in the right tool can lead to consistent savings, long-term growth and financial stability.
“Paid tools can be worthwhile when they nudge you into better habits or automate tasks you’d otherwise skip,” said Lily Vittayarukskul, CEO and co-founder of Waterlily.
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Vittayarukskul said budgeting apps like YNAB come with a small subscription cost, but can help users become more deliberate with their spending. Meanwhile, robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront offer automated investing services for a low annual fee. This approach appeals to around 40% of Gen Z investors who prefer a hands-off approach.
“The price tag is usually minor compared to the value of disciplined saving and diversified investing they facilitate,” Vittayarukskul said. “I personally use Copilot, and I like that the finally added savings goals last month, but I think that most of the options out there have become very comprehensive and user friendly.”
She added, “Just make sure any app you pay for truly gets you to invest and track your spending in a way that is compounding your wealth and taking care of any high interest debts.”
I’m a Financial Expert: This Is the No. 1 Mistake Americans Make With Their 401(k)
Gen Z can skip the hype and spend $100 opening an account with a reputable brokerage that offers diversified, long-term investment options.
“The biggest mistakes I see younger adults making when trying to get ahead financially are listening to the wrong people and chasing outsized returns,” said Tyler End, a certified financial planner and CEO of Retirable.
Starting with a solid, low-cost platform keeps new investors focused on sustainable growth without the distractions of viral trends or high-risk bets. Some examples include:
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Fidelity: No minimum investment for many accounts, zero-commission trades and strong educational tools. Offers Roth IRAs and index funds with no expense ratio.
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Vanguard: Known for low-cost index funds and long-term investing. Best suited for those who prefer a simple, set-it-and-forget-it approach.
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Charles Schwab: $0 account minimums, a wide range of low-fee ETFs and mutual funds, and solid customer support.
BBC Guernsey political reporter
BBC
The roadshow on the state of the island’s finances was held in Forest on Friday.
Gill Freeman was among people to attend and said her top election issue was balancing the books.
She said she preferred the idea of an increase to the rate of income tax, which the States rejected in favour of GST last year.
She said: “GST is unfair as it gets the lowest paid.”
The agreed States policy, according to the treasury, is to mitigate against the regressive impact of a GST through the lower rate of income tax.
‘Necessary evil’
Former UK Business Minister Lord Digby Jones said he wanted the next States to “have a sense of urgency” when it came to tackling the island’s public finances.
He said: “We need to follow through with GST+, as that is urgent, otherwise we are just going to run out of money.
“That’s not nice to have. It’s a must and we need to big time sort out the dosh.”
Outgoing politician, Deputy Andy Taylor agreed: “This government needs to drum home the actual situation we are in, the financial difficulties in the future.
“If we don’t tackle those we are absolute scuppered.”
On the way to pick up her friend at the airport, Sandra Poulding agreed GST was a “necessary evil” for the island.
Another States member, who is leaving government at the end of this term, Deputy Bob Murray, came to visit the roadshow on the way to grab some Guernsey biscuits.
He expressed his exasperation at the current States and said he was concerned incoming candidates would fail to grasp how big an issue the future of the island’s finances was.
He said: “The island has still not grasped the nettle in terms of the challenges we face, and I think we will have to wait for something like a car crash situation to have people wake up to the problems the island has.
“Hopefully GST will be introduced, it is a major way we can start to address the deficit in public finances. The other crown dependencies won’t deal with us on corporate tax reform until we bring in a GST, why would they?”
A number of general election candidates have promised to reform the island’s corporate income tax system, if they are elected.
While others have suggested a mix of income from corporate tax reform and a new wind farm off the coast of Guernsey would be enough to stop the need for a GST.
Island wide voting ‘not working’
Outside Forest Stores, people weren’t just talking tax, as several voters expressed their frustration with the current electoral system.
As she got some meat for her dog from the shops, Liz stopped by and said the States should go back to the parish system of electing deputies.
She said: “This election is too much, this way of electing is not good for our community.
“People’s days are full, they have children to go home and look after, they don’t have time to go through 82 manifestos.”
Paul Domaille said his top priority at this election was supporting candidates who would reform the voting system: “I don’t think island wide voting is working.”
Population concerns
Former Deputy for the west, Gloria Dudley-Owen, said she’s been “disappointed” with the election campaign so far.
She said: “There are some candidates definitely lacking in knowledge about the issues.”
In the past Mrs Dudley-Owen has campaigned to tighten the island’s population laws and said high levels of net migration to the island were a concern that candidates needed to take seriously.
She said: “I think it’s quite tragic what is happening with our population, we seem to have a bias against helping the Guernsey population.
“Net migration was high last year, we do need workers but I feel our people, our local people are being neglected in their needs when it comes to housing.”
BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink said Thursday that he is not planning to leave the company “anytime soon,” offering no new clarity on who may ultimately succeed him as boss of the world’s largest money manager.
For some time, investors have wondered when the 72-year-old Fink is going to step down. He co-founded the firm in 1988 and built it into a financial giant that now manages more than $11 trillion.
Some potential successors have exited the firm recently, raising more questions about succession.
They include Mark Wiedman, who had been head of BlackRock’s global client business and now has a top job at PNC Financial Services Group (PNC). Another recent high-profile exit was Salim Ramji, who is now the chief executive of BlackRock rival Vanguard Group.
“I’m not planning to leave BlackRock anytime soon,” Fink told an audience at the firm’s annual investor day in New York City, “so you don’t have to have those questions later on.”
But he added that “a top priority” for himself and BlackRock president Rob Kapito is “working with the board” to make sure “we’re developing the next generation of leaders for BlackRock.”
BlackRock under Fink is in the middle of a significant shift toward private markets.
Last year, the company spent more than $28 billion on related acquisitions, including purchases of infrastructure investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners, private markets data provider Preqin, and private credit firm HPS Investment Partners.
Given that push into private markets, the question of who might lead the world’s biggest asset manager next is rising in importance, Cathy Seifert, a CFRA analyst covering BlackRock, told Yahoo Finance earlier this week.
BlackRock’s succession plans “need to be a little more buttoned up, particularly in light of some of the shifts going on at the firm,” Seifert said.
Fink and BlackRock outlined some ambitious goals for the firm over the next five years. By 2030, the firm aims to grow its revenue to over $35 billion and double both its operating income and market capitalization.
Its stock was slightly down as of Thursday early afternoon. It’s up 29% for the past 12 months.
“We know you’re looking to see if we could execute,” Fink told investors in reference to the new acquisitions.
“I believe it’s very achievable,” he added.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.
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