Ten major European banks, including ABN AMRO, DZ BANK, and Natixis CIB, have joined forces to create RL1, a blockchain network designed specifically for regulated financial markets. The cooperative launched by these institutions inherits the infrastructure previously operated by SWIAT, a Frankfurt-based fintech whose platform processed over €700 million in transactions during three years of production.
RL1 is structured as a European Cooperative Society based in Luxembourg, giving each member equal voting rights over the blockchain’s governance and future development. Henning Vollbehr, formerly the managing director at SWIAT, now leads the cooperative, aiming to turn RL1 into the backbone of Europe's digital financial market.
Bridging Fragmented Tokenization Efforts
The move comes amid increasing demand for scalable and integrated blockchain solutions in Europe. Tokenization pilots have been scattered across various private networks, resulting in fragmented infrastructure that limits liquidity and interoperability. RL1 aspires to unite these isolated projects into a cohesive, liquid capital market ecosystem.
The founding members represent banks from Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Spain. NatWest is set to join soon, while German state-backed KfW and L-Bank support the initiative. The network’s use cases focus on regulated workflows such as digital bond issuance, tokenized real-world assets, on-chain collateral management, bank-issued stablecoins, as well as repo and derivatives margining.
With SWIAT’s BaFin-supervised electronic securities registries transferring to RL1, the network inherits a strong regulatory foundation. This is a significant step toward building a solid, permissioned blockchain infrastructure that caters to the compliance demands of traditional financial institutions while embracing the efficiencies blockchain offers.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
