JPMorgan Chase bank has filed a patent application for an electronic commerce system which reminds Bitcoin very much.The patent in question is very broad and describes a technology and system to process online payments via the electronic funds transfer network.

In case this patent is enforced, each Bitcoin transaction automatically becomes a breach of the American patent laws, with a percentage going to the bankers for inventing it. In other words, JPMorgan is trying to do the same as Scottish inventor Graeme Bell who patented an idea for the telephone before Elisha Gray who really invented it.

The patented system would allow people to pay bills anonymously online via an electronic transfer of funds – just like Bitcoin does now. The system would allow for micropayments without processing fees, again just like Bitcoin. Finally, the system could kill off wire transfers via such services as Western Union – and this Bitcoin also can do.

The problem is that the patent application doesn’t mention “Bitcoin” at all – in other words, JP Morgan Chase simply pretends that the service doesn’t exist yet. Actually, the patent says that while new online payment mechanisms have been rapidly emerging, “none of them have got more than a toehold in the market place”.

As you might have heard, Bitcoin soared to a new high of $1,242 a couple weeks ago and there are over 12 million coins in circulation at the moment. Advocates describe Bitcoin as the foundation stone of a Utopian economy – indeed, this system has no borders, no change fees, operates 24/7, and nobody can tell you what you can and can’t do with your money. We’ll see what JPMorgan Chase can get out of its application.

o.O, i also heard that they will stop producing bitcoin after it reach 21 million coin which is around 2040.
well it's new and i just heard and google bout it. didn't know it had exist for years already

Well, we cannot predict the future of Bitcoin infrastructure. A week ago it's $1,242, today it's only $640.5 (unstable yet unpredictable). Let's see until 2040 comes; I still believe Bitcoin can co-exist with a debt free economy.