The Company
R1 is the holding and operating company behind my thirteen years of blockchain infrastructure work in Malaysia. Founded in 2012 (before most people in the region had heard of Bitcoin), R1 was the vehicle for building products, advising regulators, founding consortiums, and incubating startups including Neuroware, the Blockchain Embassy, CoKeeps, and Project Castor.
It was the first company admitted to the Securities Commission Malaysia's regulatory sandbox, a distinction that came from years of relationship-building and demonstrated technical competence in a space where most participants were still pitching whitepapers.
What R1 Built
R1 operates as both a consultancy and an incubator. Over thirteen years it has produced:
- Neuroware / BlockStrap (2013–2018) — 500 Startups Batch 9, TechCrunch Disrupt launch, Deloitte Top 50 RegTech. Open-source blockchain wallet and SDK infrastructure.
- Blockchain Embassy of Asia (2016) — ASEAN's first registered blockchain consortium. Members: Maybank, RHB, Capital Bay, ATA Plus.
- DN-Key Protocol (2016) — decentralised key management using DNS infrastructure. Adopted by ATA Plus ECF.
- Project Castor (2018) — advisory work for the Securities Commission Malaysia on their blockchain blueprint, which led directly to the Digital Asset Custodian regulatory framework.
- CoKeeps (2018–2023) — co-founded and funded through R1. Malaysia's first approved Digital Asset Custodian. Five years from concept to regulatory approval.
- BloqVerse (2019) — 30+ interconnected Ethereum smart contracts forming an on-chain multiplayer RPG and consortium onboarding tool.
- Project Eden (2024) — weekend hackathon prototype of passkey-native wallets. Evolved into Oviato.
Enterprise Clients
Beyond its own products, R1 has delivered blockchain infrastructure consulting and development for institutional clients including DBS Bank (Singapore's largest bank) and Baker Hostetler (one of the largest US law firms), alongside numerous Malaysian financial institutions through the Blockchain Embassy consortium.
Philosophy
R1's operating thesis has been consistent since 2012: blockchain infrastructure matters when it solves real problems for real institutions, not when it generates speculative returns. That orientation toward compliance, custody, and institutional adoption (rather than token launches or DeFi yield) is why the company survived multiple crypto winters and maintained relationships with regulators throughout.
Every major project R1 has produced (from Neuroware's open-source wallets to CoKeeps' custody platform to the Blockchain Embassy's consortium model) has been built for the regulated world. Not despite regulation, but because of it.