A consortium of ten European financial institutions today announced the launch of RL1, a member-owned blockchain cooperative network designed to streamline interbank transactions and support tokenized asset issuance. The network, which went live this week, is operated by its founding members — including ABN AMRO, DekaBank, and Natixis CIB — rather than by a single corporate entity, marking a shift toward shared infrastructure in European banking.
What RL1 is
RL1 is a permissioned blockchain network built for institutional use. Unlike public blockchains such as Ethereum or Bitcoin, access to RL1 is restricted to verified members — initially the ten founding banks. The cooperative structure means that governance and decision-making are distributed among the members, with no single institution controlling the network. The platform is intended to handle settlement of tokenized securities, digital bonds, and other financial instruments, as well as facilitate cross-border payments between member banks.
Who's involved
The founding members are ABN AMRO (Netherlands), DekaBank (Germany), and Natixis CIB (France), along with seven other European financial institutions that have not been publicly named. The group has been working on the project for over a year, according to sources familiar with the matter. The cooperative model is a deliberate choice: each member holds an equal stake in the network's governance, and any profits generated by transaction fees or service charges are redistributed among members rather than flowing to a central operator.
The launch comes as European banks face increasing pressure to modernize legacy settlement systems. Traditional correspondent banking is slow and expensive, and many institutions have been experimenting with blockchain-based alternatives. RL1 is one of the first live examples of a multi-bank cooperative blockchain in Europe, and its success could influence how other consortia — such as the Swiss-based SIX Digital Exchange or the German Cash Tokenization project — approach governance and scalability. The timing also aligns with the European Central Bank's ongoing work on a digital euro, though RL1 is a private network and not directly tied to central bank digital currency efforts.
The consortium plans to onboard additional European banks in the coming months, with a target of 20 members by the end of 2026. The network will initially support euro-denominated transactions, with expansion into other currencies and asset classes expected next year. For now, RL1 remains a closed network — but the cooperative structure leaves the door open for future interoperability with other blockchain networks or even public blockchains, should the members decide to pursue that path.
