Regulation
|2 min ReadQatar National Bank turns to JPMorgan’s blockchain for instant dollar transfers
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Two-minute settlements, 24/7
Qatar National Bank Group (QNB), one of the Middle East’s largest lenders, has adopted JPMorgan’s Kinexys blockchain to process corporate payments in Qatar, according to a Bloomberg report. The move marks a break from traditional banking systems that restrict cross-border payments to weekdays and multi-day settlement windows.
“It’s a treasurer’s dream,” said Kamel Moris, QNB’s executive vice president of transactional banking. “We can guarantee payments as fast as two minutes.” With Kinexys, transfers can now be executed at any hour, any day — a change that could redefine regional corporate liquidity management.
Kinexys scales global payment rails
Kinexys currently processes about 10 trillion global payments flow, but an early signal of where institutional banking is headed. The platform runs on a permissioned blockchain, allowing approved clients to move funds held on deposit within JPMorgan in real time. This setup combines blockchain’s speed with banking-grade access controls.
In June, Kinexys worked with Chainlink and Ondo Finance to test crosschain delivery-versus-payment settlement between a public testnet and its private network, bridging tokenized assets with real-world finance. That pilot involved Ondo Chain’s testnet for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, marking another step toward regulated, cross-network interoperability.
Dimon plays down stablecoin threat
Even as JPMorgan expands its blockchain payments footprint, CEO Jamie Dimon remains calm about competition from stablecoins. Speaking to CNBC on Sept. 23, Dimon said he’s “not particularly worried” about stablecoins disrupting the bank’s core business, though he urged executives to stay informed as regulation tightens and adoption grows.
Recent data from RWA.xyz shows that stablecoin net inflows surged more than 320 percent in Q3, with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC leading the way. For banks like QNB, blockchain-based settlement networks such as Kinexys offer a middle path — faster, programmable dollar payments without leaving the regulated banking perimeter. In the words of one treasurer, that’s as close to magic as finance gets.
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