JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to expand its digital-asset business into stablecoins, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said on the bank’s second-quarter earnings call. Dimon told analysts the lender will be "involved in both JPMorgan deposit coin and stablecoins" as it deepens its work on blockchain-based payments beyond the proprietary JPM Coin used by wholesale clients. The move is aimed at defending the bank’s position in consumer and corporate payments as technology firms push into accounts, reward programs and settlement networks. "These guys are very smart," Dimon said of fintech rivals. "The way to be cognizant is to be involved." He added that JPMorgan is not capital-constrained and remains willing to pursue share buybacks or acquisitions alongside the new digital-asset initiative. JPMorgan helps move almost $10 trillion through its payment rails each day, giving it a dominant perch from which to test a more broadly accepted dollar-pegged token once regulatory conditions permit. Dimon, a long-time skeptic of bitcoin, said stablecoins are "real" even if their advantage over existing payment options remains unclear. His remarks echo comments by other large U.S. banks that have signaled openness to issuing regulated digital dollars.