Cari Network raised a $32.5 million first tranche of funding through convertible preferred stock from design-partner and participating banks including Huntington, First Horizon, KeyCorp, M&T, Old National, SouthState, and Glacier Bancorp.
Cari LLC (operating as the Cari Network) closed a $32.5 million first tranche funding round via convertible preferred stock issued to a group of participating banks. The investors include First Horizon Bank, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, KeyCorp, M&T Bank Corporation, Glacier Bancorp, Inc., Old National Bancorp, SouthState Bank Corporation, and other banks. These are primarily the same institutions already serving as design partners or network participants.
What is Cari Network?
Cari Network is a Washington, DC-based technology company founded in 2025 by Gene Ludwig (Founder & CEO, 27th U.S. Comptroller of the Currency and founder of Promontory Financial Group), Matthew (Louie) Giacomini (Cofounder & COO), and Phoebe Kunitomi (Cofounder, CPO & CMO). It is building the first tokenized deposit network purpose built for chartered U.S. banks.
The platform is a permissioned, blockchain based system (using Matter Labs’ Prividium, a private/permissioned Layer-2 built on ZKsync technology and anchored to Ethereum) that enables banks to issue Cari tokens, digital representations of customer deposits denominated in U.S. dollars. These tokens remain on the issuing bank’s balance sheet, retain FDIC insurance eligibility (up to applicable limits), and support always-on (24/7/365), real time, programmable money movement and settlement. Transactions stay within the regulated banking perimeter while enabling interoperability with digital asset markets. The network uses a shared token model across participating banks, with seamless conversion between tokens and fiat.
Cari positions itself as a bank-led alternative to non bank stablecoins. It aims to modernize payments, liquidity management, and settlement for regional and community banks while preserving deposits inside the traditional system and enhancing competitiveness against fintech and crypto alternatives.
Key milestones preceding the funding:
- Design partnership with core banks (Huntington, First Horizon, M&T, KeyCorp/KeyBank, Old National, later joined by SouthState).
- MVP launched in March 2026.
- Strategic technology partnership with Tassat (April 2026) to incorporate proven tokenized deposit capabilities.
- Selection of Prividium blockchain infrastructure.
- Expansion to more than 30 committed banks (plus ~40 in active discussions), representing a combined network and pipeline exceeding $10 trillion in assets.
- Endorsement by the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America and joining the American Bankers Association’s Premier Partner Network (July 2026).
- Integration work with Fireblocks for institutional infrastructure.
- Pilot involving the design partner banks targeted for summer/Q3 2026, with production launch planned for later in 2026 (potentially Q4).
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The $32.5 million tranche, structured as convertible preferred stock and funded by the banks themselves, aligns incentives tightly: the same institutions that will use and govern the network are capitalizing its development. This bank centric ownership model supports shared governance, interoperability, and long term alignment around deposit retention and regulatory compliance.
The capital supports continued platform development, bank integrations, pilot execution, risk/compliance infrastructure, and scaling toward production. Given the rapid growth in bank commitments and the regulatory pedigree of the founding team, the funding reinforces momentum for a multi bank, interoperable tokenized deposit standard focused on mid size and regional institutions. It arrives as U.S. banks increasingly explore on-chain capabilities to compete with stablecoins while keeping activity inside the regulated perimeter. Production readiness later in 2026 will be the next major test of the model’s commercial and operational viability.
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