Qatar National Bank Group (QNB), one of the Middle East’s largest banks, has adopted JPMorgan’s Kinexys blockchain platform to process corporate paymentst.
The move allows QNB to overcome traditional banking constraints, offering near-instant payments around the clock, instead of waiting days due to weekday-only processing.
A treasurer’s dream
Kamel Moris, QNB’s executive vice president of transactional banking, described the adoption as a “treasurer’s dream.”
He highlighted that payments can now settle in as little as two minutes through Kinexys’ permissioned blockchain system.
The platform ensures a secure, real-time transfer of funds held on deposit with JPMorgan while providing an access control layer to restrict operations to authorized participants.
Transaction volumes and capabilities
Kinexys currently processes around $3 billion in daily transactions.
While this is a fraction of JPMorgan’s broader daily volume, which exceeds $10 trillion, the platform’s real-time settlement capabilities mark a significant upgrade for corporate clients in Qatar.
In June, JPMorgan’s blockchain platform, Kinexys, collaborated with Chainlink and Ondo Finance to execute a cross-chain delivery versus payment (DvP) settlement, connecting a public testnet with a permissioned network.
The experiment focused on tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), demonstrating the network’s potential for secure, efficient financial operations beyond traditional markets.
Around the same time, Kinexys partnered with S&P Global Commodity Insights, EcoRegistry, and the International Carbon Registry to explore tokenizing carbon credits. This pilot aims to reduce fragmentation and improve transparency in the voluntary carbon market, enhancing account management, project lifecycle tracking, and credit management while emphasizing seamless technical integration and data compatibility.
These initiatives spot Kinexys’ broader strategy to leverage blockchain for both financial innovation and environmental asset management.
Stablecoins and JPMorgan’s perspective
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon emphasized that he is “not particularly worried” about stablecoins, the importance of monitoring regulatory developments and market growth.
Over the past quarter, the stablecoin market experienced a remarkable surge, with net inflows exceeding $46 billion. Leading this expansion were Tether's USDT, which attracted $19.6 billion, and Circle's USDC, with $12.3 billion in inflows.
This growth propelled the stablecoin market capitalization to approximately $290 billion, the increasing demand for digital dollar-pegged assets, alongside institutional blockchain solutions like Kinexys.
Before and now
For QNB’s corporate clients, such upgrades means faster, more predictable settlements, a 24/7 payment window, and the ability to integrate with tokenized asset networks, enhancing operational efficiency in Qatar’s corporate banking sector and mainly the strategy.
In September 2024, Qatar introduced the QFC Digital Assets Framework, a comprehensive regulatory structure aimed at fostering a secure and transparent digital asset ecosystem. It provides legal recognition for smart contracts, aligning with international standards and best practices. The initiative is part of Qatar's Third Financial Sector Strategy, reflecting the country's commitment to becoming a global fintech hub. Since the launch of the QFC Digital Asset Lab in October 2023, over twenty startups and fintech companies have been accepted to develop, test, and commercialize their digital asset products and services within the framework.
The adoption of Kinexys by QNB shows a growing trend of banks exploring blockchain to improve liquidity and speed while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Oleksii Shumak
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