Ten European financial institutions are establishing the RL1 Cooperative to create a neutral, member-owned, pan-European DLT utility for tokenised assets, digital money and next-generation financial markets applications.
Created as a European Cooperative Society (SCE) based in Luxembourg, the founding members of RL1 – for Regulated Layer One – comprise ABN Amro, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures and Seturion.
RL1 will be led by Henning Vollbehr, who has been appointed Managing Director of the SCE. He was previously in a similar role at SWIAT (Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer), a Frankfurt-based FinTech which contributed its DLT platform to the venture. In a statement, Vollbehr asserted that: “Going forward, RL1 will serve as the connecting infrastructure for Europe’s digital financial market, enabling participating institutions to move from isolated tokenisation initiatives to an integrated, liquid, and scalable capital market ecosystem.”Driven by that vision to reduce the current fragmentation of markets, platforms and networks that exists within Europe, RL1 has been conceived as an open, regulated infrastructure that allows its members to jointly develop and scale their own solutions and protocols, and to establish common standards. All RL1 members are empowered with equal decision-making rights and influence over the network’s future development.
At the outset, the RL1 utility will run a permissioned DLT developed and operated by SWIAT. Designed to prioritise identity management and privacy, it has been in production for three years and has completed more than 50 bond transactions with a total volume of more than EUR 700 million. SWIAT will continue to be a key technology provider to RL1.
While the RL1 network is based on the Ethereum-based Hyperledger Besu blockchain, that technology base is not set in stone. Speaking on the BFRR Podcast, SWIAT’s CTO Ivica Aracic says that should an application or use case require a different technology stack, such as a L2 network, or an alternative blockchain like Solana, then the governance of the utility can vote to approve such a move.
A principal focus for RL1 is to recruit additional members – one might be NatWest, which has been an active participant in SWIAT’s network – and new use cases as well as scaling the network across Europe. Possible use new uses cases include stablecoins, tokenised money market funds, and solutions for mobilising collateral.
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