Cari raises $32.5 million from banks for US tokenized deposit network

Washington, D.C.-based digital money network Cari raised $32.5 million from seven U.S. banks, including First Horizon Bank and Glacier Bank, for its Ethereum-anchored tokenized deposit network. The network, which is in pre-production, has signed 30 banks and is designed to let regional and community banks use programmable payment rails. The funding was part of a broader $292.35 million week in crypto financing, which also saw Félix secure $200 million for stablecoin remittances and OpenReserve announce a $25 million seed round.

Cari tokenized deposit network

• ▪Cari has signed 30 banks to its tokenized deposit network and is holding active discussions with another 40 institutions as of September 2026.
• ▪The seven participating banks in Cari's $32.5 million funding round include First Horizon Bank, Huntington Bank, KeyBank, M&T Bank, Old National Bank, SouthState Bank, and Glacier Bank.
• ▪Washington, D.C.-based digital money network Cari raised $32.5 million in the first tranche of its initial external funding round, backed entirely by banking institutions.
• ▪Cari reached its minimum viable product stage at the end of March 2026 and delivered its full product suite in July 2026, which remains in pre-production.

Bank-governed deposit infrastructure

• ▪Unlike stablecoins backed by separate reserve assets, tokenized deposits on Cari's network represent liabilities of the issuing banks, allowing regional and community banks to use programmable payment rails.
• ▪Cari is developing a bank-governed, permissioned Layer 2 network anchored to Ethereum that allows chartered institutions to issue and transfer tokenized commercial bank deposits.
• ▪Cari plans to use its $32.5 million funding to support product development, bank onboarding, and network integration.

Félix stablecoin remittance platform

• ▪Miami-based Félix secured $200 million in Series C financing, consisting of an $87 million equity investment and a $113 million credit facility, to expand its WhatsApp-based financial platform.
• ▪Andreessen Horowitz led the $87 million equity investment in Félix, while General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund committed to the $113 million credit facility.
• ▪Félix uses USDC on Stellar and works with Bitso to settle cross-border transfers, having processed over $8 billion in transactions across 11 Latin American markets.

OpenReserve banking charter approval

• ▪OpenReserve announced a $25 million seed round led by a16z crypto to establish a continuous-settlement U.S. national bank in Utah.
• ▪OpenReserve received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but must raise at least $210 million in initial paid-in capital and secure FDIC coverage.

Diameter Pay stablecoin payments

• ▪Diameter Pay provides financial institutions with U.S. dollar virtual accounts, payment rails, stablecoin access, and compliance tools, having processed over $10 billion in payments during 2026.
• ▪Jersey City-based Diameter Pay raised $10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by CMT Digital and Lightspeed Faction.

Debatable claims

• ▪The OCC should grant national bank charters to continuous-settlement institutions
• ▪Tokenized bank deposits are a safer alternative to stablecoins
• ▪Chartered banks should only use permissioned blockchain networks

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