NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, December 13, 2013

JPMorgan Chase made waves today with the filing — or re-filing — of a patent application for a payments platform that includes “virtual cash.”

The move was first noted by LetsTalkBitcoin, which called Chase’s move “an attempt to launch a bitcoin-killer.” The patent application is dated Nov. 28, Thanksgiving Day, though LetsTalkBitcoin suggests it was first filed August 5.

It actually appears the patent application was filed first in 1999 and amended in 2003, and amended again more recently. So the ideas in the document are not particularly fresh, but are still intriguing as a look at how the bank viewed, and perhaps continues to view, anonymous electronic payments.