Regulated Layer One (RL1), a blockchain initiative targeting the European financial sector, has formally established itself as a European Cooperative Society (SCE) domiciled in Luxembourg, marking a step toward creating a unified, institutional-grade distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure for regulated markets.

The cooperative brings together ten founding financial institutions from across Europe, including ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures, Seturion, and Chartered Investment. Additional supporters such as KfW and L-Bank, members since 2025 and 2026 respectively, continue to back the initiative, while discussions with further institutions — including NatWest, an active participant in the project’s first phase — are currently underway.

Henning Vollbehr, previously Managing Director of SWIAT, has been appointed Managing Director of the newly formed SCE. RL1’s network is built upon SWIAT’s production-grade DLT infrastructure, which has operated for three years and facilitated more than 50 transactions exceeding EUR 700 million in total volume. SWIAT’s software remains fully compatible with RL1, enabling immediate deployment of use cases such as bond tokenization, while SWIAT’s BaFin-supervised German electronic securities registries and application ecosystem will transition to run on the RL1 network.

The initiative comes as tokenization moves from experimental pilots toward scalable market infrastructure. The European Central Bank’s projects, including Appia and Pontes, along with rising activity in stablecoins, tokenized money market funds, digital bonds, and collateral mobilization solutions, have highlighted the need for shared, reliable settlement infrastructure. RL1 presents itself as a response to the fragmentation of blockchain networks within the regulated financial sector, offering a permissioned, interoperable network designed to connect assets, services, and regulated participants across jurisdictions.

Governance is a central element of the RL1 model. As a cooperative, the network gives all members equal decision-making rights, preventing any single institution or node operator from exercising disproportionate control. The structure is intended to support transparency, collaborative protocol development, and the creation of common industry standards.

By offering a neutral, member-owned utility for tokenized assets, digital money, and next-generation financial services, RL1 aims to provide a foundational infrastructure layer for institutional digital finance. The cooperative model, together with production-tested technology and expanding institutional participation, positions the initiative as a potential contributor to Europe’s digital financial market infrastructure in the years ahead.

The post European Financial Institutions Form Cooperative To Operate Layer 1 Blockchain For Regulated Markets appeared first on Metaverse Post. For more information, visit RL1 and the original article at Metaverse Post.