JPMorgan executives call for functional regulation of U.S. digital assets

Umar Farooq and Peter Muriungi, senior executives at JPMorgan Chase, have published a position arguing that digital assets moving into the core U.S. financial system require regulatory frameworks anchored in economic function, not technology label. The pair stress that tokenisation and programmable money offer efficiency gains in payments and settlement, but warn that clarity without durable safeguards pushes activity into lightly supervised channels and weakens longstanding protections.

The executives argue that blockchain-based issuance or trading does not alter an asset’s economic character: securities disclosure and market integrity rules should apply regardless of substrate, and decentralised platforms performing broker or exchange functions should face commensurate obligations. In payments, they caution that stablecoins and tokenised money risk drifting into shadow banking when yield incentives or balance-holding arrangements lack the capital, liquidity, consumer protection, and supervisory standards of traditional deposits.

Farooq and Muriungi also highlight illicit finance risk, asserting that exemptions allowing transaction infrastructure to operate without meaningful anti-money laundering oversight can shield true ownership and raise national security concerns. JPMorgan Chase itself is investing in digital asset capabilities across payments and other businesses, operating within a risk-managed, supervised environment, though the piece does not detail specific products or timelines.