On Tuesday, JPMorgan announced that its blockchain unit is launching JPMD, a USD deposit token for institutional clients, on Base. That’s right: the world’s biggest bank by assets and the 12th largest company by market cap is putting real dollars onchain.

JPMD isn’t quite a stablecoin, but it’s close. It represents actual dollar deposits at JPMorgan and will be used by institutional clients for blockchain-based transactions. The bank plans to run a pilot over the coming months and eventually expand it to other user groups and currencies, pending regulatory approval.

To understand what this means for the broader crypto ecosystem (and why JPMorgan chose Base), we brought on Jesse Pollak, head of Base and Coinbase Wallet. In this episode, Jesse explains:

Why JPMorgan (and Shopify) chose Base
What deposit tokens are, and how they differ from stablecoins
Why infrastructure is finally “ready” for institutions
How Base scaled from 2.5 million to 35 million gas/sec
What’s next for Coinbase users who’ll have one-tap access to onchain assets
And Jesse’s response to the critics who said that Coinbase doesn’t give enough credit to Ethereum

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Ledn
FalconX

Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet

Unchained:

Comments on Bloomberg by Naveen Mallela, global co-head of the bank's blockchain division Kinexys by JPMorgan

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

🏦 1:49 What JPMD actually is

🔧 4:26 Why Jesse believes infrastructure is finally ready for institutional adoption

📊 7:03 Whether Base can handle global scale

💵 9:24 How JPMorgan plans to use deposit tokens in real-world blockchain transactions

⚖️ 11:22 Whether deposit tokens are a better model than stablecoins

🛠️ 16:59 Why JPMorgan chose to launch on Base instead of other chains

📉 19:00 How recent events served as a wake-up call for fintech and commerce

📲 22:22 Why Jesse is hyped about seamless access to onchain assets inside Coinbase

📈 25:47 How Coinbase plans to manage the chaos of token pumps and dumps

🌐 27:54 Jesse’s take on the criticism that Coinbase doesn’t show Ethereum enough love

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 8, 2025

Letters from an American

Trump's Use of National Emergencies

The AI-powered Podcast Player