JPMorgan, Apollo team up with Axelar, Oasis Pro, Provenance on blockchain interoperability

JPMorgans Onyx Digital Assets team and global asset manager Apollo have joined forces with cross-chain communication protocol Axelar, fintech infrastructure provider Oasis Pro and the financial services-focused Provenance Blockchain on an interoperability proof-of-concept.

The collaboration comes under the Monetary Authority of Singapores Project Guardian initiative — arguing for open and interoperable private networks that offer tokenized asset exchange utilizing decentralized finance protocols.

The JPMorgan-led project aims to demonstrate how blockchain technology can manage large-scale client portfolios, execute trades and enable automated portfolio management of tokenized financial assets, according to a statement.

The system is designed to enable fund managers to tokenize, purchase and rebalance real-world 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 utilized the Axelar network to achieve interoperability with a private and permissioned Provenance Blockchain Zone — an appchain fully interoperable with the Provenance Blockchain mainnet.

“Our goal is to create solutions that bring 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 recorded,” head of Onyx Digital Assets Tyrone Lobban said. “The interoperability achieved through Project Guardian is a step forward in showing how tokenized traditional and alternative investments can be automatically managed across multiple systems.”

“For Axelar network, interoperability doesnt stop at the borders of any blockchain,” Axelar Inc. CEO Sergey Gorbunov added. “Public blockchains provide fast finality and transparency, and these attributes can be difference-makers in hybrid systems that integrate real-world assets as well as private blockchains and off-chain systems.”

“JPMorgan and Apollos use case is exactly why we designed interoperable private and permissioned Provenance Blockchain Zones,” Provenance Blockchain CEO Anthony Moro said. “With the support of Axelar and Oasis Pro, JPMorgan and Apollo demonstrated how portfolios could be rebalanced and trades executed between Onyx Digital Assets and Provenance Blockchain. This is believed to be a 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 the solutions for portfolio rebalancing is a critical step in the evolution of traditional asset-management functions,” Oasis Pro CEO Pat LaVecchia said. “This next generation of technology will increase speed and efficiency across legacy systems.”

JPMorgan's expanding blockchain initiatives

The proof-of-concept is the latest foray into blockchain-based financial services for JPMorgan after rolling out automatic payments via its permissioned 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, enabling clients to utilize tokenized assets as collateral and completing its first transaction involving BlackRock and Barclays.