Published
05/11/2025 às 11:24
The Central Bank dismantles Drex, abandons payments, and postpones the next phase to 2026 after privacy flaws in blockchain technology.
The Central Bank (BC) has decided to profoundly alter the Drex (Digital Real X) digital currency project, created to simplify financial operations through tokenization. The initiative began in 2020, but due to privacy concerns, it was postponed to 2026 and will proceed with a different focus than initially planned.
Origin of Drex and changes to the schedule
The Central Bank of Brazil (BC) launched Drex in 2020 with a working group responsible for studying the creation of a digital currency. The following year, the institution released the guidelines for… developmentwhich included retail payments, online and offline transactions, and even the possibility of a physical version of the currency.
In 2023, testing of the new technology began, and the first 16 participants were selected, including consortia and financial institutions. During this period, the name Drex also emerged, replacing the previous name, Real Digital. Also in that year, the first interbank transfer using the platform took place, on an experimental basis.
The Central Bank began the second phase of testing in 2024 and planned to start the third in 2025. The public launch, scheduled for the beginning of this year, did not happen. Now, the agency estimates a new testing phase only for 2026.
With the reorientation of the project, Drex will no longer include payment functionalities. According to the BC, part of the infrastructure based on DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) will be switched off next Monday (10), as communicated to the consortia that participate in the development.
Reasons for the change and next steps
The change occurs because Drex would use a infrastructure Blockchain still presents unresolved privacy issues. Matters such as bank secrecy require structural corrections, which have not progressed at the necessary pace.
The Central Bank expects to decide, in the first half of 2026, which technology will replace the current one to allow the pilot program to continue.
Among the priorities is the development of a service that guarantees secure records regarding the use of assets as collateral for credit. The goal is to improve this mechanism before moving on to other functionalities.
In interview with FSPFabio Araujo, the project coordinator, stated that the solutions tested “do not yet present a level of maturity compatible with what is required by the services operated in the national financial system.” He also emphasized that calling Drex a “digital currency” could lead to misinterpretations, as that is not the essence of the project.
Internally, the Central Bank does not interpret the change of course as a failure. The institution is evaluating new business models and studying other ways to apply the technology developed so far, while reorganizing Drex’s next steps for 2026.