RL1, a new regulated Layer One blockchain, started its journey on July 28 as a Luxembourg-based European Cooperative Society. It is jointly owned by ten major financial institutions aiming to build regulated tokenized markets and digital money infrastructure.
The cooperative inherits a mature network from SWIAT, which had processed over 50 transactions totaling more than €700 million before the transition. Henning Vollbehr, former managing director of SWIAT, now leads RL1 and oversees the network's governance and development. Key founders include ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures, Chartered Investment, and Seturion.
Network Governance and Expansion
Each founding member holds equal voting rights within RL1, which is governed by a general assembly, supervisory board, and management board. The platform operates as a private and permissioned network, yet it remains open for other regulated financial entities to join. NatWest is slated to join in the upcoming weeks, while German banks KfW and L-Bank are supporting expansion efforts without being founding members. The technical operators, many linked to the original SWIAT infrastructure, are in the process of migrating to RL1, signaling ongoing development and integration.
While RL1’s launch announcement made no mention of a new token or public investment products, it marks a significant step in bringing regulated digital assets under control of established European financial players, potentially increasing trust and adoption in tokenized finance.
This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.
