JPMorgan Chase executives are worried that blockchain is developing too slowly and are investing $9 billion to develop both blockchain and robotics

Despite its massive investments in financial technology, JPMorgan still has some way to go to achieve its blockchain goals.

Abhijit Gupta, the multinational bank's head of science and technology for the Asia-Pacific region, told China's Sina News that he was concerned about the progress of blockchain technology, 'especially the speed.'

Gupta also said:

"In the last year and a half, we've improved the processing time of our system by a factor of 10, but we need to improve it by a factor of 1,000."

The details come months after the bank first began disclosing its blockchain work. In February, JPMorgan conducted an internal test to transfer funds between London and Tokyo involving 2,200 of the bank’s clients, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A month later, JPMorgan Chase unveiled its blockchain work, Juno, a distributed ledger project as part of its participation in the Hyperledger project led by the Linux Foundation.

Blockchain and employment

JPMorgan Chase still has some way to go before it can accomplish its blockchain goals, with reports suggesting the bank is financially committed to another area of ​​technology.

Last December, Business Insider reported on an internal memo from JPMorgan Chase that revealed the bank would invest $9 billion in blockchain and robotics technologies by the end of 2016.

In a conversation with Sina, Gupta explained how the company views investments in both sectors, particularly in relation to their concerns about the impact on jobs.

“We don’t think financial technology will cause many people to lose their jobs. As more money flows into this field, more jobs will also emerge.”

Gupta concluded:

“For example, applying robotics to banking operations can reduce human errors and increase efficiency, which will improve the customer experience. As a result, we will be able to redeploy employees to areas where they can continue to produce value.”