Alibaba.com, the global B2B marketplace of Alibaba Group, is partnering with JPMorgan to use the bank’s blockchain-based infrastructure for cross-border payments in tokenized U.S. dollar and euro deposits. The initiative will run over JPMorgan’s JPMD (JPM Coin Deposit Token) system, which enables tokenized bank deposits to move between institutional clients on a blockchain, with the goal of speeding up settlement, enabling 24/7 transfers, and reducing reliance on intermediaries in international trade payments.
According to Alibaba.com president Kuo Zhang, the company will initially focus on bank-issued digital tokens (tokenized deposits) rather than crypto-native stablecoins, to stay within existing banking regulations and ensure operational clarity. In today’s typical B2B cross‑border flow, a U.S. buyer paying a Chinese supplier may face multiple correspondent banks and currency conversions, adding time and cost; by contrast, a tokenized dollar or euro can be transferred directly on JPMorgan’s blockchain network, with Alibaba using this to support real-time or near-real-time payments between regions such as the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, and mainland China. Zhang has indicated that Alibaba may evaluate the use of stablecoins later, once the tokenized deposit system is in place and proven.
This move situates Alibaba at the forefront of enterprise blockchain-based payment modernization, using regulated bank money rather than public crypto assets, and underscores a broader trend of large financial institutions and platforms experimenting with tokenization for real-world B2B settlement. For JPMorgan, it is a prominent deployment of its blockchain infrastructure (including JPMD) in high-volume global trade flows, potentially validating a bank-led model for digital money and programmable cross-border payments among corporates.
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✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.
