JP Morgan Chase has expanded its interest in the blockchain technology space with an investment in TRM Labs. After announcing its new banking lounge in Decentraland metaverse JP Morgan has now joined a growing number of financial firms to invest in TRM Labs which received support from Paypal Ventures, Visa, and American Express in a recent funding round that led to $60 million of investment. Many leading operators in the banking sector are seeking ways to access the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading and with the increasing interest in digital assets from the investment community, Banks are looking for ways to harness the research the data available.
TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics firm founded in 2017, which monitors crypto transactions for suspicious activity and traces the movement of illicit funds, announced that it has received investment from the world’s largest bank. The sum of the investment remains undisclosed.
TRM provides blockchain intelligence to help traditional financial institutions, as well as crypto-focused businesses and public agencies, analyze and manage crypto-related fraud and crime. TRM’s transaction monitoring solutions allow financial institutions and cryptocurrency businesses to meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory requirements to manage reputational and operational risk. Law enforcement agencies use the company’s forensics tool to investigate sophisticated crypto-related crimes.
When speaking to Blockworks about the investment, CEO of TRM, Esteban Castaño said:
“I think it shows that financial institutions are not investing in just crypto and potential use cases but the technology to mitigate any associated risks,”
JP Morgan has been stressing its ambition to build secure blockchain products for its customers. As crypto markets accelerate and demand for applications grows, so too does the demand for analysis of all applications to ensure organizations understand the technology and learn how to manage both the risks and opportunities effectively.
The Onyx lounge was unveiled earlier this year. In the virtual banking lounge, JP Morgan has set up a branded virtual environment for the biggest bank in the world where you can buy virtual plots of land with non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, and make other purchases using cryptocurrency. In a report titled ‘Opportunities in the metaverse,’ the bank highlights how it is exploring the many opportunities it presents for customers and brands. It also recognizes the value-added benefit of the metaverse when building communities with shared values:
“From a social perspective, the development of more immersive virtual experiences is helping people to build communities based on shared values, and to express themselves in more authentic ways.”
With this investment in TRM’s vision to drive security and integrity in crypto ecosystems with sophisticated analytical solutions, JP Morgan is helping a leading infrastructure project to scale and offer more secure applications for building out secure blockchain products and services.
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