JPMorgan's blockchain unit expands into MENA with 8 major bank deals

JPMorgan's blockchain business unit, Kinexys (formerly Onyx), has expanded its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), securing partnerships with eight of the region's leading banks. The development signals a broader shift toward blockchain integration in banking infrastructure.

JPMorgan said Thursday that six of the eight banks are Qatar National Bank, Saudi National Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Bank ABC. A spokesperson of JPMorgan declined to disclose the remaining two banks when contacted by The Block. The banks are using Kinexys to enhance cross-border payments, treasury functions and transaction efficiency.

"With 8 of the largest banks in MENA using the Kinexys Digital Payments platform, we have an opportunity to fundamentally rewire how multi-currency clearing and settlement infrastructure operates in the region and extend the capabilities more broadly and worldwide," said Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys at JPMorgan, in a statement to The Block via the spokesperson.

Mallela added that financial institutions in the MENA region are grappling with challenges regarding commercial settlements, such as cross-border payments and liquidity funding needs, and require infrastructure that enables 24/7, near real-time settlement. Kinexys Digital Payments is designed to meet those demands, he said.

Launched in 2019, JPMorgan's Kinexys platform has processed over $1.5 trillion in total transaction volume to date. Average daily volume now exceeds $2 billion, with year-over-year payments volume growing tenfold, according to JPMorgan. Still, the platform represents only a fraction of the roughly $10 trillion in daily transactions handled by the bank's broader payments division.

The Kinexys suite includes four main components: Kinexys Digital Payments, a blockchain-based deposit and payments rail; Kinexys Digital Assets, for asset tokenization; Kinexys Liink, a permissioned network for payments information; and Kinexys Labs, the unit's dedicated blockchain research arm.

Notably, Kinexys Digital Payments has also integrated with JPMorgan's foreign exchange services to enable on-chain settlement. The integration currently supports U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds, with plans to expand to additional currencies. It allows clients to settle cross-border forex transactions around the clock, reducing settlement risk and increasing speed.