Key facts
- Ten European financial institutions have launched RL1, a member-owned blockchain cooperative.
- RL1 is established as a European Cooperative Society in Luxembourg.
- Founding members include ABN AMRO, DekaBank, and Natixis CIB, among others.
- The network is built on infrastructure from German fintech SWIAT and supports tokenized assets and regulated financial markets.
- RL1 aims to reduce fragmentation by providing a shared distributed ledger system.
Ten European financial institutions have launched Regulated Layer One (RL1), a new member-owned blockchain cooperative based in Luxembourg. The cooperative aims to provide a shared infrastructure for regulated financial markets and tokenized assets, addressing fragmentation in the industry.
Founding members of RL1 include ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures, and Seturion. Each member will hold equal decision-making rights regarding the network's governance and future development.
The private, permissioned network utilizes infrastructure previously developed by German fintech SWIAT, which has now transferred ownership to the cooperative. During its three years of production use, SWIAT's platform processed over 50 transactions valued at more than 700 million euros (approximately $808 million).
RL1 is designed to support institutional use cases such as digital money, tokenized bonds, collateral management, and blockchain-based settlement. Henning Vollbehr, formerly the Managing Director of SWIAT, will lead RL1. The initiative continues to receive support from KfW and L-Bank, and RL1 is reportedly in discussions with other institutions, including NatWest, about potential membership.