Ten European financial institutions, including ABN AMRO, DekaBank, DZ BANK and Natixis CIB, launched Regulated Layer One, a jointly owned blockchain network for regulated financial markets, the group said in a press release published Tuesday.
The launch consolidates one of Europe's longest-running bank blockchain efforts into shared, member-owned infrastructure at a moment when tokenization pilots across the region are colliding with a fragmented patchwork of private networks. RL1 is structured as a European Cooperative Society, or SCE, domiciled in Luxembourg, and every member holds equal decision-making rights over the network's governance and development.
The network runs on infrastructure built by SWIAT, the Frankfurt-based fintech owned by DekaBank, LBBW, SC Ventures and Comyno, which transferred ownership of the network to the cooperative. The system has operated in production for three years and settled more than 50 transactions worth over 700 million euros, or about $815 million, according to the release. Henning Vollbehr, who ran SWIAT as managing director, moves over to lead the new cooperative.
"RL1 will serve as the connecting infrastructure for Europe's digital financial market, enabling participating institutions to move from isolated tokenization initiatives to an integrated, liquid, and scalable capital market ecosystem," Vollbehr said in the release.
