Stablecoins proved that there is demand for tokenized money that can move around the clock, but most large institutions still prefer commercial bank money for core treasury, settlement, and liquidity flows.
This is where shared tokenized deposit networks become important. This phrase hit the headlines recently when major global banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup joined banking consortia such as The Clearing House to deploy these shared-ledger networks.
In this article, we will break down what these shared deposit networks are, how they differ from private chains like JPMorgan or HSBC, and public institutional chains like Canton. We will also dive into how these shared networks work, their architecture model, a few live examples, and what Zeeve can do for you.
What Is a Shared Tokenized Deposit Network
A shared tokenized deposit network is a multi-bank blockchain infrastructure. Regulated banks on this network can convert customer liabilities, such as checking and savings balances, into digital tokens on one shared, permissioned ledger.
Such kinds of consortium governance keep the network closed, because only authorized banks run validator nodes. This shared ledger also replaces the old correspondent banking model where intermediaries were required. Before, a payment from Bank ‘A’ to Bank ‘B’ had to pass through outside clearinghouses. Now every bank has a copy of the same database, so that step is removed or minimized.
Banks still keep their core banking platforms rather than replacing them, running a shadow ledger alongside those systems that mirrors locked fiat balances on the blockchain rail in real time.
Read More: How banks can tokenize deposits without replacing core banking systems?
For readers looking at the business case first, our earlier article explains why banks need to tokenize deposits and who benefits.
Why Banks Choose Shared Networks Over Private or Public Chains
Banks generally weigh three options for distributed ledger infrastructure. A shared tokenized deposit network, such as the major US banks’ example. A private single bank chain, such as JPMorgan’s Kinexys or HSBC’s Orion. Or an institutional multi-asset network, such as the Canton Network. Each carries a different tradeoff between liquidity, control, and legal finality.
What are Its Benefits Over Private Chains?
Private chains work well for a single bank’s own clients, but force corporate treasurers to maintain isolated accounts everywhere else. A transfer on a private ledger only moves between two clients of the same bank, so a payment to a supplier elsewhere must exit the chain and re-enter traditional clearing rails, a step a shared network skips entirely.
Private networks also limit netting to one balance sheet, while a shared network lets multiple banks pool liquidity and net positions automatically. Shared governance further reduces vendor lock-in, since an independent consortium runs the infrastructure rather than one bank.
Benefits Over Public Institutional Chains
Institutional chains like Canton connect different asset classes. Shared deposit networks are built for a narrower job, handling the cash leg of a transaction well.
On an open network, different developers can issue different versions of wrapped cash, fragmenting liquidity. A shared network enforces one legal wrapper for every bank, so a token dollar minted at Bank A always equals a token dollar minted at Bank B, and node governance stays inside regulated institutions rather than outside validators.
Shared networks also sit next to central bank settlement loops, letting a deposit settlement trigger central bank money movement in the background, a link that is harder to build natively on an open, multi-industry platform.
| Feature | Shared Deposit Networks | Private Single Bank Chains | Institutional Public Networks |
| Primary advantage | Systemic interoperability | Absolute governance and speed | Cross-asset composability |
| Legal nature of asset | Single legal framework across banks | Closed, proprietary bank liability | Varies by application |
| Counterparty risk | Distributed across regulated peer banks | Limited to the single issuing bank | Fragmented, dependent on app nodes |
| Settlement velocity | Instant multi-bank atomic netting | Instant intra-bank, needs exit rails | Inter-application atomic swaps |
| Commercial intent | Interbank cooperative ecosystem | Proprietary corporate tool | Open marketplace for financial services |
Read More: How to choose the right blockchain infrastructure for tokenized deposits?
How a Shared Tokenized Deposit Network Works
A shared tokenized deposit network converts commercial bank deposits into digital tokens on a one-to-one basis, using a permissioned consortium blockchain. Instead of routing payments through external clearinghouses, banks share one synchronized database and move liabilities between each other instantly.
The Core Components of a shared tokenized deposit network
Four components bridge legacy banking technology with the shared ledger.
- A consortium ledger, typically built on platforms such as Hyperledger Besu, Fabric, Cosmos, or a private EVM layer-2, in which only vetted banks run validator nodes.
- A core banking integration layer connects those nodes to each bank’s legacy accounting systems through enterprise APIs.
- A smart contract engine governs the token lifecycle and enforces rules such as transaction limits and sanctions screening.
- A tokenization vault holds the underlying fiat cash, guaranteeing that every circulating token is backed one-to-one by real reserves.
Let’s Have A Transaction Walkthrough Taking the Example of JPMorgan and Citi
Consider Company A, a JPMorgan client, paying Company B, a Citigroup client, ten million dollars instantly.
JPMorgan locks the funds first, verifying the balance and moving it into a tokenization vault. Its validator node then mints ten million JPM-USD tokens on the shared ledger and transfers them to Citigroup’s wallet, where consensus settles the transfer within seconds.
Citigroup’s validator node detects the tokens, triggers an internal credit to Company B’s account, and once confirmed, burns the tokens and removes them from circulation.
How Is Netting and Clearing Done For Tokenized Deposit Transactions?
While corporate clients see their balances update instantly, the banks must still settle the underlying liquidity changes. In a shared network, this is handled through real-time bilateral netting.
Throughout the day, thousands of transactions pass between JPMorgan and Citi on the ledger. Instead of moving actual wholesale central bank reserves via Fedwire for every individual transaction, the ledger continuously updates a net balance sheet position between the banks. At scheduled intervals, the banks run an atomic swap to settle the net difference using traditional central bank reserve rails. This process reduces the overall liquidity a bank needs to hold to support 24/7 operations.
What Are The Leading Shared Tokenized Deposit Initiatives to Watch
Several consortiums have moved from concept to live infrastructure. Four initiatives stand out as banks work to prevent deposit flight toward private stablecoins.
The US Big Banks Initiative
Announced in June 2026, this initiative was jointly developed by JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo under the governance of The Clearing House, with a full rollout scheduled for the first half of 2027. This is what we mentioned at the start of the article.
It keeps liquidity inside the traditional banking system, targeting multinational clients who want crypto speed alongside bank-grade compliance and FDIC-backed deposits. Smart contracts transfer deposit liabilities across member banks instantly, removing the delay of standard ACH or Fedwire queues.
Project Agorá
Project Agorá is led by the Bank for International Settlements and the Institute of International Finance. It completed its core prototype phase in May 2026 and moved into real-value testing, with seven central banks and more than 40 commercial banks participating.
Agorá places tokenized commercial deposits and central bank reserves on one programmable platform, letting both legs of a cross-border payment settle simultaneously instead of over several days through correspondent banks.
The Regulated Liability Network and the UK Pilot
The Regulated Liability Network was originally conceptualized by Citigroup and has since evolved into sovereign variants worldwide. Its most advanced version, the UK RLN, is led by UK Finance with partners such as Quant Network, and Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, and HSBC are running an active tokenized Sterling pilot through 2026.
The RLN works as a multi-asset container, recording central bank money, commercial deposits, and regulated non-bank assets on one ledger, while the pilot tests programmable consumer payments and delivery versus payment for assets such as tokenized money market funds.
The Cari Network
The Cari Network serves mid-market banks. It expanded quickly through mid 2026 to include more than thirty regional and mid-tier banks, including Huntington Bank, M&T Bank, KeyBank, and SouthState Bank, together representing over ten trillion dollars in combined asset volume as per a recent BusinessWire release.
Source: Cari Network
Cari is built on a permissioned Layer2 rollup anchored to Ethereum with Zero-knowledge (ZK) architecture to support privacy and compliance. This is a single-token ecosystem where the Cari token is used to represent customer deposits and make programmable payments to participating banks.
Evaluating L2 rollups for permissioned banking infrastructure? — Talk to Zeeve’s experts about architecture, privacy, compliance, and production readiness.
Zeeve for Privacy-Enabled Blockchain Infrastructure
Shared ledgers create a privacy problem. Banks need common infrastructure, but they cannot expose client balances, counterparties, or transaction intent to every participant.
Permissioned networks can control who enters the network, but they do not automatically protect the data layer. Transaction values and identity metadata may still be visible without stronger privacy design.
This is where privacy-enabled infrastructure becomes critical. Zeeve Tegaris is a modular enterprise-grade privacy stack for institutions building digital asset platforms, payment systems, and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Read More: How Banks Can Enable Selective Privacy and Compliance for Tokenized Deposits?
For a shared tokenized deposit network, Zeeve can support the infrastructure layer in three ways.
- First, it can help banks deploy and manage permissioned nodes across enterprise blockchain stacks.
- Second, it can support privacy tooling such as zero-knowledge proof systems and selective disclosure.
- Third, it can help align the deployment with enterprise controls, monitoring, and operational requirements.
Running a shared network across many banks also requires real infrastructure coordination. Zeeve reduces this burden by supporting deployment across Hyperledger Besu, Fabric, Cosmos, private EVM L2 chains, and other custom blockchains under ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and GDPR standards, and by connecting these nodes to existing messaging systems and legacy core banking software.
If you are a financial institution doing something on tokenized deposits, schedule a call with us to discuss how we can help you.
