R3, the private blockchain project that once attracted backing from Intel, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, HSBC, and dozens of other financial and tech giants, is reportedly exploring a sale. According to Bloomberg, the company has held discussions over the past six months regarding options such as joint ventures, a minority stake sale, or a full acquisition. Sources familiar with the matter said blockchain organizations including Ava Labs, the Solana Foundation, and Adhara have been approached for potential deals.
The Rise and Fall of R3 and Private Blockchains
Launched in 2014, R3 embodied the vision of major banks who believed private blockchains would eclipse public networks like Bitcoin. Backed by over $100 million in funding, R3 transitioned from a consortium to a product company and developed Corda, a distributed ledger tailored for financial institutions. Former Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn played a key role in building Corda before leaving his full-time role in February 2021.
However, the fundamental flaws of permissioned blockchains soon became apparent: isolated ecosystems lacking interoperability, complex governance among competing banks, and the reality that most use cases could be handled by traditional databases. As Mikko Ohtamaa, co-founder of tradingstrategy.ai, noted: 'The whole private blockchain was an oxymoron in the first place. The business benefits of public blockchains come from open source (no license fees), open access (no paid APIs), and open transact (no third-party contracts for moving assets). R3 had none of these.'
The Triumph of Public Blockchains
Banks underestimated the value of permissionless design. Trust minimization—a key advantage in public networks—offers little gain in consortia where members already trust each other. Moreover, innovation accelerates much faster in open, globally collaborative systems than in closed corporate environments. Many banks eventually recognized this and left R3's consortium in droves.
The situation mirrors the 1990s when companies favored private intranets over the public internet—before realizing the immense power of open systems. By attempting to strip blockchain of its most valuable features, private projects like R3 ultimately failed to deliver sustainable business value. Now, with a potential sale looming, R3 faces the financial consequences of trying to fit blockchain into traditional finance molds. This marks the definitive end of the private blockchain era that began with such high hopes a decade ago.