Former U.S. Official Eugene Ludwig Launches Cari to Advance Tokenized Bank Deposits

Eugene Ludwig, who served as U.S. Comptroller of the Currency under the Clinton administration, founded Cari to help regional banks compete with stablecoins issued by nonbank firms through tokenized deposits. The tokens remain bank liabilities within the regulated banking system and, in principle, can qualify for up to $250,000 in FDIC insurance per depositor, per bank. They can also support round-the-clock interbank payments.

Cari announced on March 17, 2026, that it had selected Prividium, Matter Labs’ private blockchain built on ZKsync. Five regional banks—Huntington, First Horizon, M&T, KeyCorp and Old National—are participating, with combined assets of about $779 billion. A minimum viable product is scheduled for late March, followed by a pilot in the third quarter and a formal launch targeted for the fourth quarter.