Nikolas Sargeant
A bank-governed tokenized deposit network is taking shape in the US, with Cari Network, led by former US Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig, selecting Matter Labs' Prividium infrastructure to power the platform. Built on ZKsync and anchored to Ethereum, the network is designed to let regional and mid-sized US banks issue and move tokenized deposits around the clock, keeping them on balance sheet as bank liabilities rather than circulating freely in open DeFi markets.
Five banks, Huntington Bancshares, First Horizon, M&T Bank, KeyCorp, and Old National Bancorp, have been involved in designing and testing the network since February, according to Bloomberg. The Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America has also backed the model, arguing that keeping deposits within regulated institutions is essential for small business lending and local economic stability.
The timing is deliberate. As stablecoin issuers increasingly encroach on banks' role in payments and deposit funding, and as lawmakers debate frameworks like the GENIUS Act, ZKsync CEO Alex Gluchowski framed the platform as a way for mid-sized banks to lead the infrastructure transition rather than be displaced by it. He also drew a distinction between stablecoins and tokenized deposits, describing the latter as complementary, serving as payment tokens for moving money in and out of private banking infrastructure.
Prividium functions as the shared ledger, enabling instant settlement between verified counterparties while keeping personally identifiable data within each bank's core systems. The architecture was built with US banking privacy requirements in mind, including examiner access and tamper-evident audit trails.
The institutional push comes as ZKsync's public network saw transaction volumes fall roughly 90% in 2025, with its 2026 roadmap now explicitly targeting enterprise and government use cases.
