JPMorgan’s Onyx Digital Assets team and global asset manager Apollo have joined forces with cross-chain communications protocol Axelar, fintech infrastructure provider Oasis Pro and financial services-focused Provenance Blockchain for an interoperability proof-of-concept.
The partnership falls under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian initiative – which advocates open and interoperable private networks that offer tokenized asset exchange using decentralized financial protocols.
The JPMorgan-led project aims to demonstrate how blockchain technology can manage large-scale customer portfolios, execute transactions and enable automated portfolio management of tokenized financial assets, a statement said.
The system is designed to allow fund managers to tokenize, purchase and rebalance real asset positions across multiple blockchains, standardizing the processes for settling transactions on interoperable networks.
Breaking down barriers in asset management
The Onyx Digital Assets team used the Axelar network to achieve interoperability with a private and permissioned Provenance Blockchain Zone – an appchain that is fully interoperable with the Provenance Blockchain mainnet.
“Our goal is to create solutions that deliver significant efficiencies and enable better outcomes for asset and wealth managers and investors through personalized, highly scalable portfolios, regardless of asset class or where those assets are managed and captured,” says Onyx head Digital Assets Tyrone Lobban said. “The interoperability achieved through Project Guardian is a step forward in demonstrating how tokenized traditional and alternative investments can be automatically managed across multiple systems.”
“For the Axelar Network, interoperability does not stop at the boundaries of any blockchain,” added Sergey Gorbunov, CEO of Axelar Inc. “Public blockchains offer fast finality and transparency, and these features can be difference makers in hybrid systems that integrate real-world assets, as well as private blockchains and off-chain systems.”
“The JPMorgan and Apollo use case is exactly why we designed interoperable private and permissioned Provenance Blockchain Zones,” said Anthony Moro, CEO of Provenance Blockchain. “With the support of Axelar and Oasis Pro, JPMorgan and Apollo have demonstrated how to rebalance portfolios and transact between Onyx Digital Assets and Provenance Blockchain. This is believed to be the first of its kind blockchain interoperability solution for institutional financial services.”
Oasis Pro – not to be confused with the privacy-focused blockchain Oasis Network – enabled the tokenization of assets, such as Apollo funds, on the platform. “Successfully delivering portfolio rebalancing solutions is a critical step in the evolution of traditional asset management functions,” said Pat LaVecchia, CEO of Oasis Pro. “This next generation technology will increase the speed and efficiency of legacy systems.”
JPMorgan’s growing blockchain initiatives
The proof-of-concept is the latest foray into blockchain-based financial services for JPMorgan after rolling out automatic payments through the authorized JPM Coin platform last week – a system that now handles $1 billion in daily transactions.
In October, JPMorgan’s Tokenized Collateral Network, a blockchain-based collateral settlement application, went live, allowing clients to use tokenized assets as collateral and completing the first transaction involving BlackRock and Barclays.
