Banco Central do Brasil’s DREX tokenization pilots have attracted considerable attention. The first phase of trials was limited to a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC), tokenized deposits and digital treasury bonds. It is now about to start a much broader second phase, and in September announced 13 consortia selected to take part. This week it opened applications to another round of participants, with a deadline of November 29.
The primary payment tool in DREX is tokenized bank deposits. There’s a wholesale digital real issued by the central bank, which is used for interbank settlement for transactions. DREX aims to explore smart contracts to enable programmability and automation of a variety of transactions, including high value purchases and investments. It already has its successful Pix payment system for regular payments.
The consortia that were previously selected are experimenting with a range of use cases, including using tokenized deposits for the settlement of real estate transactions, buying a car, for agribusiness transactions and for trade finance. Many of the use cases are more financial in nature, including asset backed securities, certificates of deposits, FX and debentures.
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