JPMorgan 'has no plans to introduce bitcoin-like currency'

JPMorgan Chase has no plans to introduce a competing product to bitcoin, the digital money created as an alternative to currencies controlled by nations and banks, according to a person familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets, did not have anything in development nor did it plan to produce virtual currencies to compete with bitcoin, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the New York-based company's strategy was notpublic.

The Financial Times had reported that the lender filed a US patent application for a system that, like bitcoin, allowed users to make electronic payments anonymously and without fees.

The application was a renewal for intellectual property claims originally filed in 1999 covering "a method and system for conducting financial transactions over a payment network," according to a document on the US Patent & Trademark Office's website. It was never intended to be a competitor to bitcoin, the person said.

Jessica Francisco, a JPMorgan spokeswoman, declined to comment on the patent application.