RL1 Blockchain Cooperative Launches With Cecabank and Crédit Mutuel as Founding Members

The Regulated Layer One (RL1) blockchain cooperative has formally launched, with SWIAT transferring its distributed ledger technology platform to the newly established Luxembourg organisation while retaining a role as technical partner. Spanish wholesale bank Cecabank and French umbrella cooperative Crédit Mutuel join as founding members, bringing the total membership to ten institutions across five European countries plus the United Kingdom.

The founding roster spans ABN Amro, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel, DekaBank, DZ Bank, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures (Standard Chartered‘s venture arm), and Seturion (Boerse Stuttgart’s entity). Germany accounts for five of the ten members. Two previously involved German institutions, L-BANK and KfW, have shifted to a supporter designation rather than full membership; KfW is noted as one of the most prolific bond issuers globally. Natwest, which participated in an earlier phase, remains in active discussions, while V-Bank, previously associated with the initiative, does not appear in the current membership list.

RL1’s timing is pointed: the Eurosystem’s Project Pontes is scheduled to go live in September, providing on-chain settlement of tokenised assets using central bank money, including a wholesale central bank digital currency. For a cooperative positioning itself as a European neutral network, operating infrastructure that is ready to connect with Pontes at launch represents a meaningful first-mover consideration. How membership composition evolves, particularly whether Natwest formalises its participation and whether KfW moves from supporter to member, will indicate the cooperative’s ability to attract the cross-border institutional weight its neutrality positioning requires.