R3 announces the launch of R3 Labs, a new division of R3 dedicated to bringing the next trillion dollars of real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain.
R3 Labs accelerates institutions’ adoption of tokenized RWAs on Solana, beginning with the $17bn already tokenized across R3’s platforms – the world’s largest collection of tokenized RWAs – and expanding to a growing pipeline of regulated financial institutions seeking broader distribution, deeper liquidity, and new revenue opportunities. Richard G. Brown has been appointed as CEO of R3 Labs, with Digby Try joining as Global Head of Sales.
R3 Labs envisions a future where all assets move on-chain. By leveraging the speed and scale of Solana, R3 Labs aims to eliminate the friction and complexity of issuing RWAs on public blockchains. Coupling R3’s decade of experience building compliant blockchain solutions with the low-cost, high-throughput, and distribution of the Solana network will unlock new opportunities for revenue generation, including providing on-chain investors access to yield and collateral backed by the high-quality real-world assets of the R3 ecosystem. In addition, this will enable regulated institutions to directly confirm transactions on one of the fastest and most resilient public blockchain networks, with sub-second finality and more than 70x greater throughput than Ethereum’s real-world capacity recorded in July 2025.
R3 Labs will introduce products and services to remove institutional barriers to on-chain deployment. Leveraging the success, proven privacy and control solutions of R3’s Corda networks, regulated firms will gain access to greater liquidity, new efficiencies, and broader market access for tokenized RWAs. R3’s understanding of the unique demands of regulated financial markets combined with Solana’s expansive DeFi ecosystem, token standards, and privacy and compliance tooling will allow R3 Labs to deliver solutions that streamline RWA issuance and deployment – giving TradFi a gateway to DeFi without compromising privacy, security, or performance.
Richard G. Brown becomes CEO of R3 Labs. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on distributed ledger systems and interoperability, and as R3’s Chief Product and Technology Officer led the development of Corda for over a decade, playing an instrumental role in shaping the R3 and Solana integration.
Digby Try joins R3 Labs as Global Head of Sales. He brings more than 25-years of experience in digital assets, fintech, and capital markets, having previously served as CRO at Coincover and VP of Sales EMEA at Currencycloud, which was acquired by Visa for $1bn.
David E. Rutter, Founder and CEO of R3 commented: “The launch of R3 Labs is a significant milestone in our mission to reduce friction around tokenization and help bring the next trillion dollars of institutional assets onto public blockchains. With $17bn in RWAs already tokenized across our platforms, we’re building a unique bridge between regulated financial institutions and public blockchain networks. I am delighted that Richard will lead this effort as CEO of R3 Labs – he’s a visionary and pragmatic leader, and one of the most capable minds in the space to take R3 to the next level.”
“For over a decade, we’ve helped institutions navigate the complexities of going on-chain. R3 Labs is the next step in accelerating that transformation. Permissionless infrastructure delivers liquidity, composability, and unstoppable innovation – and we’re making it easier for institutions to access it confidently and securely. Combining R3’s proven expertise in regulatory and operational solutions with the openness and power of public networks, R3 Labs makes it radically simpler, safer, and faster to bring high-quality assets to public blockchains at scale,” added Richard G. Brown, CEO of R3 Labs. “I’m delighted to welcome Digby to the team. His leadership and commercial expertise will be invaluable as we build the future of internet capital markets for existing and new clients.”
Guido Stroemer, Co-Founder and CEO, HQLAX: “Managing collateral across jurisdictions and time zones has long been a source of friction. R3’s technology has helped HQLAX redefine collateral mobility for traditional assets – reducing risk and unlocking trapped capital for our global bank clients. With the launch of R3 Labs, the convergence of permissioned and public networks promises to take collateral mobility to its natural next step to enable 24/7, on-demand collateral management for both traditional assets and digital assets across TradFi and DeFi players. The shift to on-chain finance is real, and we’re proud to support R3 in this next chapter of innovation.”
Marco Kessler, Head of Product and Business Development Digital Assets, SIX Securities Services: “Institutional adoption of public blockchain is accelerating as the industry recognizes its potential to unlock new efficiencies, liquidity, and market access. What’s critical is doing this in a way that aligns with the regulatory and operational standards institutions demand. R3 has a proven track record of delivering trusted infrastructure and solutions for capital markets, and R3 Labs is an important next step. We fully support their ambition to bridge traditional and decentralized finance and help shape the future of on-chain capital markets. R3 is uniquely positioned to deliver this at true institutional scale.”