CoinDesk
The US Senate pushed the Clarity Act into September, leaving the market structure bill for digital assets in legislative limbo after months of negotiation. Banks are not waiting for Washington.
JPMorgan has run institutional payments through its Kinexys platform for years, reporting more than $3 trillion in cumulative transaction volume, and now offers JPMD, a deposit token for institutional clients. In June, seventeen major financial institutions, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo, said The Clearing House would clear and settle tokenized deposits onchain, with a reported 2027 target.
The same pattern is spreading beyond the largest banks. In March, Huntington, First Horizon, M&T Bank, KeyCorp and Old National became design partners on the Cari Network, a bank-governed tokenized-deposit network led by former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig and powered by Prividium, a privacy-focused layer 2 built on ZKsync. More than 30 institutions have joined over the last four months, with another 40 in active discussion, representing institutions holding more than $10 trillion in combined assets.
Why it matters
The architectural question has shifted past whether banks will put deposits onchain. They already are. The real question is whether bank-run networks can talk to one another. A tokenized deposit is a claim on one specific bank, not a universal token, and no bridge turns one institution's liability into another's. Interoperability has historically come through clearing, and onchain tokenized deposits need the same machinery: redemption, reissuance, netting, and residual settlement in central bank money. The system now has to meet standards the old rails never faced simultaneously: privacy, neutrality, and verifiability, all at once.
Market impact
The Clarity Act will not regulate tokenized deposits directly. What it can settle is the perimeter of digital asset markets where bank-issued money will compete with regulated stablecoins, completing the framework the GENIUS Act started.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the Clarity Act and why does its September delay matter for crypto markets?
The Clarity Act is the US Senate's market structure bill for digital assets that defines jurisdiction over tokens and intermediaries. Its delay into September leaves the competitive perimeter between bank-issued money, stablecoins, and other digital assets unsettled, freezing the rules bank boards and examiners need…
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How much money has already moved onto bank-issued tokenized deposit rails?
JPMorgan's Kinexys platform has processed more than $3 trillion in cumulative transaction volume, and the bank now offers JPMD, a deposit token for institutional clients. The Cari Network counts more than 30 member institutions holding more than $10 trillion in combined assets, with another 40 in active discussion.
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What is the difference between a tokenized deposit and a stablecoin?
A tokenized deposit is a claim on a specific commercial bank and stays on that bank's balance sheet, fully regulated as a deposit. A stablecoin is typically issued by a non-bank entity against segregated reserves and sits under a different regulatory regime. Both settle digitally, but they are claims on different…
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Why can't tokenized deposits from different banks just bridge to one another?
A tokenized deposit is a liability of one specific bank, and no token standard or bridge can turn one institution's liability into another's. Interoperability in banking has historically come through clearing, where the sending bank's token is redeemed, the receiving bank issues its own, and the residual between the…
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What would September's Clarity Act actually unlock for bank tokenization?
The bill will not regulate tokenized deposits directly, but settling jurisdiction over digital asset markets would tell bank boards and examiners that building on shared onchain infrastructure is a supervised activity with known rules. That certainty is the missing piece boards cite when they default to keeping new…
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