Edging towards the public Ethereum mainnet has always been a delicate business, given that banks have traditionally viewed public blockchains as more or less radioactive, both a reputational and compliance risk. JPMorgan’s head of Onyx Digital Assets, Tyrone Lobban, noted that the public Ethereum chain has evolved significantly over time, from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake. (The former is more energy-intensive and has made Bitcoin a bete noire of environmentalists, giving ESG-conscious banks reason to prefer the latter.) Plans to add better scaling technology and multiple data layers on Ethereum could also cater to the needs of enterprises over time, he said.
