Ten major European banks unveil RL1 blockchain cooperative for digital assets
The RL1 network has commenced operations as a cooperative blockchain platform owned by its members, with backing from 10 prominent European financial organizations such as ABN AMRO, DekaBank and Natixis CIB.
A consortium of ten prominent European financial organizations has introduced Regulated Layer One (RL1), a collaboratively owned blockchain cooperative created specifically for tokenized assets and regulated financial market applications.
The coalition revealed on Tuesday that RL1 has been formally established as a European Cooperative Society based in Luxembourg and has commenced operational activities with its founding member institutions, which include ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures and Seturion.
According to RL1, every member institution will maintain equal voting authority regarding the network's governance structures and future development initiatives.
The permissioned, private network operates on technological infrastructure originally created by SWIAT (Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer), a German financial technology company, which has now transferred complete ownership of the network infrastructure to the cooperative entity.
According to SWIAT, the platform has successfully executed more than 50 transactions representing a combined value exceeding 700 million euros (approximately $808 million) throughout three years of active production deployment.
The blockchain infrastructure has been architected to accommodate institutional applications including digital currency systems, tokenized bond instruments, collateral management and settlement processes executed via blockchain technology. RL1 emphasized that the shared network infrastructure could help minimize the fragmentation that results from financial institutions maintaining separate and isolated distributed ledger technology systems.
Henning Vollbehr, who previously served as managing director at SWIAT, will assume leadership of RL1. Both KfW and L-Bank will maintain their support for the initiative, and RL1 has indicated it is currently engaged in conversations with additional financial institutions, including NatWest, regarding potential membership in the network.