JPMorgan tests tokenized portfolios with Avalanche blockchain tech

JPMorgan Onyx also tapped Axelar, Provenance Blockchain and Oasis Pro for its recent Project Guardian pilots

article-image

Robson90/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

JPMorgan blockchain arm Onyx has collaborated with a suite of industry startups to create a proof of concept that could show how tokenization can help better manage financial assets.

The tests were carried out under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian and was designed specifically to enable fund managers to tokenize their portfolios on chosen blockchains.

Wealth managers could also purchase and rebalance their positions across these different interoperable blockchain networks. 

The blockchain stacks chosen for this proof of concept include Provenance Blockchain, JPMorgan’s own Onyx Digital Assets and Avalanche. Cross-chain communication protocol Axelar and issuance-slash-trading platform Oasis Pro also contributed to the initiative.

It is important to note that these transactions were done in a permissioned manner, meaning access was limited to a select few participants on private blockchain networks. So, the transactions won’t show up on public chain explorers such as Axelarscan, Mintscan or Snowscan, though example transactions are detailed in a recent JPMorgan and Apollo report

Galen Moore, global communications lead at Axelar, told Blockworks that Axelar created a permissioned instance for connecting different chains by modifying its existing cross-chain configuration so that it was in alignment with the privacy and access management requirements set by the proof of concept. 

“The purpose of this Project Guardian was to demonstrate a system that would allow a portfolio manager to manage a large number of discretionary portfolios comprising tokenized assets across multiple blockchains,” Moore said. “In that, it was successful.”

How JPMorgan’s tokenized portfolios worked across multiple private blockchains

It is uncertain whether public chains or mainnets will be involved in future deployments. Though this is the case, JPMorgan has been actively exploring possibilities in the blockchain technology space. Also for Project Guardian, JPMorgan processed tokenized foreign exchange trades on Polygon’s mainnet last year via a modified version of the permissioned DeFi platform Aave Arc.

Most recently, it gave institutional clients more programmability over its payment offerings on its blockchain-based accounts with the JPM Coin system, allowing users to set parameters around payments based on different requirements. 

The bank has also been exploring on-chain digital wallets, allowing users to store and control digital identity on its platform. 

“Consistent with the goals of Project Guardian, we believe our POC is a critical moment at the intersection between traditional finance and blockchain technology,” JPMorgan wrote in a report

“We view our contribution to Project Guardian as the first step of a journey into the complex business of delivering higher quality discretionary investment portfolios in a thoughtful and efficient manner to improve the end investor’s experience and results.”


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

LTIPPanalysis.png

Research

This report is a retroactive analysis of Arbitrum's Long Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP). We collect relevant data at a protocol level and review bi-weekly updates to analyze recipients, their strategies, and the impact of the incentives on high level growth metrics. In particular, we want to highlight outperformers and underperformers, and glean any best practices or lessons learned for protocols distributing ARB incentives in the future. The overarching goal is to synthesize lessons learned that the DAO can reference as it begins thinking about future incentives programs–namely, the working group for incentives that is being actively discussed–especially as Timeboost introduces new conditions for trading and economic activity.

article-image

Sponsored

AI project Zerebro intersects the spheres of artificial intelligence, finance, art, music, and culture

article-image

Allmight is focused on furthering the United States’ leadership in crypto

article-image

The conditions Charles Schwab is waiting for before jumping headfirst into crypto could take shape soon

article-image

The FCA’s director of payments and digital assets shared some takeaways from chats with crypto companies and law firms

article-image

Let’s take a look at how US equities typically perform this time of year and what we might see in the coming days

article-image

Lumina introduces transparency and permissionless integration via an OP stack-based optimium, challenging traditional oracle designs