Written by: TinTinLand
In early 2025, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was still publicly denouncing Bitcoin as a “Ponzi scheme.”
However, just six months later, this bank, which once scoffed at cryptocurrencies, announced it would pilot the issuance of JPMD deposit tokens on Coinbase’s public chain Base, supporting 24/7 real-time settlement, becoming an alternative to compliant stablecoins.
Such plot twists are not an isolated case. Web3, once regarded as a fringe technology by the mainstream business community, is now being actively embraced by traditional business giants.
PayPal launched the Ethereum-based stablecoin PYUSD, Citibank and Bank of America are advancing their own stablecoin plans, the world’s largest asset management company BlackRock is moving money market funds onto the blockchain, JD.com is laying out cross-border payment stablecoins, and Ant Group is issuing RWA tokens for new energy assets on the blockchain…
Traditional industry giants are transforming their core businesses with Web3. When the wave of technological change truly arrives, those who seize the opportunity may master the rules of future capital flows.
This article will review those traditional industry giants who are redefining themselves with Web3. Let’s take a look at which tracks they are laying out!
New Energy on the Blockchain: Digitalization of Green Assets
In the past, the application of blockchain was mostly limited to the financial sector. Now, green infrastructures such as photovoltaic power plants and wind farms are also starting to “go on-chain.” These assets, which originally seemed cold, have become divisible and tradable through digital tokens, opening up new financing channels for the renewable energy industry.
Ant Financial’s groundbreaking attempt
In March 2025, Ant Group collaborated with the Shanghai Tree Map Blockchain Research Institute to put approximately 4,000 battery swapping cabinet assets operated by Anhui Xunying New Energy Group on the blockchain, issuing digital tokens aimed at the private placement market, achieving China’s first renewable energy RWA project deployed on a public chain platform.
On a technical level, the project cleverly combines IoT and blockchain technology, allowing operational data to be recorded on-chain in real-time, ensuring that asset value and operational information are traceable and immutable. Hong Kong Victory Securities acts as the custodian, providing assurance for the project’s compliance.
In addition to battery swap cabinets for electric vehicles, the physical assets and operational data of green energy facilities such as charging piles for new energy vehicles, photovoltaic power stations, and wind power plants can also be transformed into RWA projects through blockchain and IoT technology.
The combination of digital finance and green finance not only meets the financing needs of enterprises but also promotes the development of low-carbon industries, while laying the foundation for the digitization of computing power assets (such as AI servers).
New Opportunities for Real Estate On-Chain
If you think that buying a house can only be done with a full payment or a mortgage, then you haven’t seen “real estate on the blockchain.”
In the world of Web3, property ownership or revenue rights are recorded on the blockchain in the form of digital tokens, making assets “divisible and tradable.” This not only lowers investment thresholds and increases transaction efficiency but also enhances transparency and compliance, attracting global investors to participate.
Dubai Land Department (DLD)
In April 2025, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) collaborated with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to integrate a blockchain into the real estate registration system, enabling property tokenization. The investment threshold starts as low as AED 2000 (approximately 545 USD). The initial pilot will only be available to local residents, but plans are in place to gradually open it to a global audience.
In the pilot phase in May 2025, the RWA project for two sets of apartments sold out quickly, with investors from 35 countries, 70% of whom were first-time buyers in Dubai.
In addition, Dubai’s main developer DAMAC has reached an agreement with the RWA blockchain platform MANTRA to plan to put at least $1 billion in assets on-chain, further promoting the application of digital assets at the local institutional level.
Hong Kong, China
In June 2025, Hong Kong clearly stated in the “Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0” that physical assets (including real estate) are included in the category of tokenized assets. Licensed exchanges can support on-chain transactions, while allowing banks and brokers to provide related services to retail customers, paving the way for compliant on-chain transactions of real estate assets.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is also advancing the “Ensemble Plan”, exploring the use of Wholesale CBDC and tokenized deposits as infrastructure for on-chain transactions and integration with RWA.
US Stocks on the Blockchain: The Integration of Traditional Securities and the Crypto Market
On-chain US stocks are the digitalization of traditional stocks of US-listed companies, publicly issued on the blockchain. They may be backed by physical stocks or established through synthetic assets or price linkage.
As you can trade Apple and Nvidia stocks on-chain 24 hours a day, the boundaries between traditional securities markets and the crypto market are rapidly merging.
Robinhood Case Study
On June 30, 2025, the U.S. online brokerage platform Robinhood launched U.S. stock and ETF token products based on the Ethereum Layer-2 network Arbitrum for EU users, covering over 200 stocks/ETFs including Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, supporting 24/5 trading with no transaction fees.
Robinhood plans to eventually migrate these products to its self-built Layer-2 blockchain, Robinhood Chain, achieving full on-chain integration of issuance, clearing, and settlement.
Payment Giants: Seizing Stablecoins and New Payment Networks
If the past payment market was dominated by Visa and Mastercard, then stablecoins and on-chain payment networks are sparking a “payment war.” Almost all leading payment companies are quietly strategizing; whoever can turn stablecoins into mainstream payment tools may rewrite the rules of global capital flow.
Stripe secretly develops Layer 1 blockchain
Global payment giant Stripe is secretly developing a blockchain project called “Tempo”: a high-performance, payment-oriented EVM-compatible Layer-1 public chain. The project is being driven by Stripe in collaboration with venture capital firm Paradigm, and it is said to have invited heavyweight figures such as Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang to participate, demonstrating Stripe’s emphasis on blockchain infrastructure.
Although Tempo is still in a secret development phase, its positioning is almost directly aimed at competing for the future global payment underlying network.
PayPal launches stablecoin
Payment giant PayPal has taken the lead by issuing the Ethereum-based stablecoin PYUSD, integrating it into consumer payments and cross-border settlements, reducing transaction fees of traditional payment networks, and allowing hundreds of millions of users to naturally engage with Web3 payments in their daily transactions.
Visa & Mastercard’s counterattack
In response to the challenges posed by emerging forces, traditional payment giants are actively fighting back. Visa is actively promoting the use of stablecoins in its payment network, including expanding its Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) to support the issuance and settlement of stablecoins. There are rumors that Visa may launch its own stablecoin (such as “VUSD”).
Visa’s competitor Mastercard has joined the stablecoin alliance Global Dollar Network initiated by institutions like Paxos, jointly minting and sharing the interest income of the stablecoin USDG, which is pegged to U.S. Treasury bonds.
JD.com’s global ambition
China’s internet giants are also not willing to fall behind. In mid-June 2025, JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong stated that he hopes to apply for stablecoin licenses in major currency countries around the world, aiming to reduce cross-border payment costs by 90% and improve settlement efficiency to within 10 seconds.
Currently, JD’s stablecoin is entering the second phase of sandbox testing, planning to issue products pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar. The testing scenarios mainly include cross-border payments, investment transactions, and retail payments. It is expected to be market-ready as early as the fourth quarter of 2025.
Note: The JD stablecoin has not been officially issued, and the public should be wary of false information and scam risks.
On-chain transformation of banks and financial institutions
As the regulatory environment becomes clearer, especially with the push of the GENIUS Act in the United States, traditional banks and financial institutions are no longer content to sit on the sidelines; they are actively positioning themselves by moving deposit, settlement, and payment services onto the blockchain, hoping to seize the initiative in the digital payment revolution.
JPMorgan’s innovative exploration
JPMorgan Chase has launched a deposit token called JPMD and is conducting a pilot on Coinbase’s Base public blockchain.
JPMD is a permissioned token that represents dollar deposits, open only to institutional clients, supporting 24/7 real-time settlement, and has the potential to pay interest, making it a viable alternative to compliant stablecoins.
This project combines JPMorgan’s traditional advantages (such as FDIC insurance and compliance guarantees) with on-chain payment efficiency, reflecting the bank’s exploration path in the field of digital payments.
Citibank & Bank of America Stablecoin Plans
Citibank and Bank of America have both confirmed that they are advancing their respective stablecoin initiatives, aiming to explore more efficient cross-border payments, reduce settlement costs, and provide digital payment solutions for businesses and retail customers.
The Flower Period Bank is considering issuing a Citi stablecoin to support cross-border real-time payments and automated trade financing. Meanwhile, Bank of America has stated that it has conducted extensive research and will seek a “legal and straightforward” way to enter the Web3 payment network.
CMB International launches Solana on-chain fund
On August 13, 2025, CMB International, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, successfully tokenized its Hong Kong-Singapore Mutual Recognition Fund (MRF) in collaboration with the Singapore digital asset trading platform DigiFT and the Solana ecosystem, issuing CMBMINT. This marks the birth of the world’s first publicly offered fund based on the Solana public chain. The fund has received simultaneous recognition from regulatory authorities in both Hong Kong and Singapore.
Zhaoyin International, as a subsidiary of a Chinese bank, may attract more brokerage firms and subsidiaries of Chinese banks to layout in the RWA sector.
BlackRock: Money Market Funds on Chain
As the world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock has been very active in the Web3 space in recent years. In 2025, BlackRock launched its first tokenized fund BUIDL on Ethereum, achieving on-chain issuance of high-quality assets such as government bonds.
At the same time, BlackRock plans to put up to $150 billion of its money market funds on-chain through DLT Shares (Distributed Ledger Technology Shares), achieving on-chain settlement and direct connection with traditional capital markets.
These fund shares will enable near real-time transaction settlement, 24/7 access, and transparent, tamper-proof records, significantly improving trading efficiency and laying the foundation for future digital currencies, on-chain derivatives, and cross-chain financial applications.
New Payment Options for Retail E-commerce
In the traditional financial system, credit card networks charge retailers high fees and there are settlement delays. Now, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart have a new option: issuing or integrating stablecoins to build their own payment systems, which saves costs and improves settlement efficiency.
Amazon and Walmart
Amazon and Walmart are actively preparing to issue their own stablecoins to reduce the fees and settlement delays associated with traditional payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
This is expected to not only reduce cross-border and retail transaction costs but also provide two major e-commerce platforms with a self-managed payment system, enhancing user experience and capital flow efficiency.
Shopify
The e-commerce platform Shopify has started allowing merchants to accept USDC stablecoin payments, completed the settlement framework on the Base chain, and plans to offer cashback rewards for consumers using USDC payments in the future.
In addition, Shopify also supports payments through cryptocurrency wallets such as Coinbase or MetaMask on its platform, helping merchants reduce foreign exchange and multi-currency transaction costs, achieving a more convenient and low-cost on-chain payment experience.
Conclusion
After seeing the layout of these traditional industries in the Web3 track, do you also feel the urgency of the transformation?
From new energy to traditional finance, from payment giants to real estate, we are experiencing an unprecedented industry reshaping. Former bystanders have now become active participants and promoters, and Web3 is profoundly changing their business landscape, bringing new possibilities to the entire industry.
The wheels of the era roll forward, and standing at the node of 2025 looking back, perhaps we are witnessing the birth of a new chapter!
