Brazil already won payments - now it's losing blockchain
Why Brazil should abandon Drex and regulate tokenised assets instead
Brazil processes more instant payments in a month than the US does in a year through a system that’s existed for 50 years. Pix hit 6.4 billion transactions in December 2024 alone—80% more than credit and debit cards combined. Over 160 million Brazilians send money instantly, for free, 24/7.
Yet while Brazil celebrates Pix and tests Drex, the blockchain economy is being built without us.
The US just created the rules of the game. The GENIUS Act established federal stablecoin regulation in July 2025. The CLARITY Act passed the House 294-134, defining which crypto assets fall under SEC versus CFTC oversight. Together, these laws create the regulatory clarity that unlocks institutional capital, cross-border settlement, and tokenised asset markets.
Brazil’s response? Double down on a CBDC we don’t need.
Drex solves problems Pix already fixed. Instant transfers? Pix does that. Financial inclusion? 76.4% of Brazilians already use Pix—far beyond any CBDC adoption globally. Low-cost infrastructure? The Central Bank built SPI as open, interoperable rails that work.
The real gap isn’t payment speed. It’s blockchain participation.
While US banks prepare to issue regulated stablecoins and tokenise treasury bonds, Brazilian institutions wait for Drex pilots to conclude. While American exchanges operate under clear market structure rules, Brazilian crypto companies face regulatory ambiguity. While the US positions dollar-backed stablecoins as digital infrastructure for global trade, Brazil builds a walled garden.
Abandon Drex. The resources poured into a centralised digital currency won’t help Brazilian institutions compete in an open, global tokenised economy.
The blockchain economy emerging from GENIUS and CLARITY isn’t about replacing national payment systems. It’s about tokenised securities, cross-border settlement layers, DeFi protocols, and programmable assets that operate across jurisdictions. Brazil needs regulatory frameworks that let our financial institutions compete in these markets, not just domestically but globally.
The path forward is clear: regulate direct access to on-chain assets. Create categories based on asset class, jurisdiction of issuance, and issuer. For assets issued abroad, place regulatory weight on distributors operating in Brazil—but make it easy for them to work with foreign assets. Fighting this trend only accelerates DeFi adoption as Brazilians route around restrictions to access global markets anyway.
Pix proved Brazil can leapfrog incumbents when we focus on the right problems. We skipped the card infrastructure buildout that took decades in developed markets and went straight to instant, free, open payments. That same leapfrog opportunity exists in blockchain—but only if we stop pouring resources into replicating what we already have.
The question isn’t whether Brazil should have a CBDC. It’s whether centralised infrastructure can compete with an open tokenised economy. Once American securities, assets, and funds live on public blockchains under clear regulations, any Brazilian with blockchain access can participate directly. Drex offers a walled garden. The US is building open rails that don’t require permission from central banks.
Brazil can either create frameworks to compete in that economy or watch capital flow to jurisdictions where the rules are already clear.