Enterprise blockchain firm R3 has announced a strategic collaboration with Solana Foundation to bridge its permissioned Corda platform with Solana’s permissionless blockchain network. The partnership marks a significant shift for R3, which will develop an enterprise-grade consensus service directly on Solana’s Layer 1 network, enabling regulated financial institutions to access public blockchain infrastructure while maintaining compliance requirements for real world asset (RWA) tokenization.
The collaboration involves appointing Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, to R3’s board of directors – a move that hints at deeper strategic alignment between the companies. R3 will bring its ecosystem of regulated assets on-chain across its platforms to Solana’s network, potentially unlocking new liquidity and settlement options for traditional financial institutions and their more than $10 billion in on chain assets.
The partnership comes as R3 has been exploring strategic options including potential investment or sale. Bloomberg reported in October 2024 that R3 held early talks with representatives of Ava Labs, the Solana Foundation and Adhara about a potential minority investment, joint venture or outright sale. While there’s no acknowledgement of a Solana investment in R3, Liu’s board appointment suggests deeper collaboration than a typical technology partnership. This is reinforced by the full time return of founding Chief Technology Officer Richard Brown.
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