Solana launches open settlement standard for institutions: what JPMorgan’s role actually means
The Solana Foundation has launched Solana DvP, an open-source program designed to let banks and other financial institutions settle trades of tokenised assets on the Solana blockchain in a single step. The foundation announced it in New York on Monday, 5 October, and said JPMorgan provided input on institutional settlement practices during development.
The headline link to JPMorgan is the part readers should look at most carefully. The program is new and potentially useful, but it is not yet evidence that big banks are moving trades onto Solana.
What happened
Solana DvP is an escrow program released under the MIT licence, which means anyone can use, adapt and build on it without paying licensing fees. It gives institutions a standard way to carry out delivery-versus-payment, or DvP, settlement on Solana.
DvP is the basic safeguard of securities markets: the asset and the cash change hands at the same time, or the trade does not happen at all. That removes the risk of one side paying and the other failing to deliver. In traditional markets this runs through clearing houses, depositories and custodians, and typically takes one to two days. The foundation says its program does it in one atomic transaction, with finality in seconds.
The program supports Solana’s standard token formats, including Token-2022 features that regulated issuers rely on, such as the ability to pause a token or restrict transfers. Any two counterparties can use it with any settlement agent, such as a bank, custodian or exchange. The foundation says it has passed external security audits and plans to add privacy features so settlement details can stay confidential. It is inviting design partners and early participants ahead of a full production release.
Why it matters
Until now, institutions settling on-chain have typically relied on custom smart contracts built for each deal. A shared open standard could lower that cost and make tokenised securities easier to trade between firms that have not built their own tooling.
There is a precedent. In December 2025, JPMorgan arranged a US$50 million tokenised commercial paper issuance for Galaxy Digital on Solana, bought by Coinbase and Franklin Templeton, and handled the DvP settlement itself. Solana DvP effectively turns that kind of bespoke settlement into reusable public infrastructure.
The headline versus the commitment
Rhodel D’souza, Head of Markets Digital Assets at JPMorgan, said a shared open standard for atomic settlement is the kind of foundational infrastructure institutional participants need, and that the bank was pleased to contribute its expertise.
However, the press release includes a JPMorgan disclaimer stating that the bank’s involvement was limited to advice on settlement practices. It says this should not be read as JPMorgan designing, operating, approving or endorsing the program. JPMorgan has not said it will settle trades through Solana DvP. What has changed is that a standard now exists. Adoption has not yet been demonstrated.
What to watch next
The clearest signal will be the first named bank, asset manager or custodian to settle a live trade using Solana DvP, and whether repeat users follow. The promised privacy features also matter, since institutions are often reluctant to expose trade details on a public chain.
What would weaken the story is a long gap with no named adopters, or institutions continuing to favour private networks or rival chains for tokenised settlement. Readers watching SOL should treat this as a long-term infrastructure development rather than a near-term price catalyst. Infrastructure announcements show where a network is heading, but usage is what confirms it.
Key terms
Atomic settlement
A transaction where every part either completes together or none of it does. In a trade, the buyer can’t end up paying without receiving the asset, or the reverse.
Finality
The point at which a transaction can no longer be reversed or changed. On Solana this takes seconds. Traditional securities settlement usually takes one to two days.
Counterparty risk
The risk that the other side of a trade fails to deliver what it promised, whether that is the asset or the payment.
Tokenised assets
Traditional financial assets, such as bonds or commercial paper, represented as digital tokens on a blockchain so they can be held and transferred there.
Commercial paper
Short-term debt that companies issue to raise cash, usually repaid within months rather than years.
Escrow program
Code on the blockchain that holds both sides of a trade and releases them only when agreed conditions are met, such as both parties delivering before a deadline.
Open source (MIT licence)
The code is publicly available, and anyone can use, change or build on it for free, including for commercial purposes.
Settlement agent
The firm that oversees the exchange of asset and payment in a trade, such as a bank, custodian or exchange.
Token-2022
Solana’s upgraded token standard. It lets issuers build controls directly into a token, such as pausing transfers or restricting who can hold it, which regulated issuers need.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.