European Banks Unite on Regulated Blockchain Network

Regulated Layer One (RL1), a blockchain cooperative, has launched in Luxembourg as a European Cooperative Society. Founded by ten European financial institutions, including ABN AMRO and Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, RL1 aims to provide a permissioned network for tokenized assets and regulated market infrastructure.

The founding structure gives each member equal decision-making rights over the network's development, signaling that governance will be shared among members. This cooperative model reflects a broader push among banks and regulated players to build shared blockchain rails that integrate with existing compliance frameworks.

RL1's technical foundation was developed by German fintech Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer (SWIAT), which has transferred ownership of the network to RL1. The platform processed more than 50 transactions totaling over €700 million across three years in production use, showing that it has moved beyond prototypes into live transaction processing.

The cooperative is intended to support institutional workflows tied to digital money and tokenized financial instruments, including tokenized bonds, collateral management, and blockchain-based settlement. RL1 also aims to reduce fragmentation in distributed ledger efforts by providing a shared network among regulated participants for tokenized settlement-related activities.