Digital Real: everything you need to know about DREX

Brazil’s Central Bank advances with tests for launching its CBDC.

The Digital Real, known as DREX, represents the biggest transformation of the Brazilian monetary system since the Real Plan. It is the Brazilian CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), currently under testing by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB).

Scheduled for launch in 2025, DREX has the potential to revolutionise the use of money, reduce public spending and place the country in a leading position among emerging economies on the global financial technology scenario.

Unlike private cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, DREX will be an official digital currency, backed by the Brazilian real and issued exclusively by the Central Bank. Its main function is to serve as an infrastructure for financial innovation, enabling smart contracts, new credit models, international integration of payments and greater financial inclusion.

Amid the global CBDC race, Brazil is emerging as a strategic player in the BRICS+. With DREX, the country will assume the role of a bridge between emerging and developed economies, combining technological innovation with one of the most solid financial infrastructures in the Global South.

DREX and the evolution of financial technology in Brazil

The emergence of DREX was not an isolated movement, but a natural evolution of digital transformation that began with Pix. The debate about a Brazilian CBDC took shape during Jair Bolsonaro’s government, when the then president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, began studies and publicly defended the creation of a sovereign digital currency as an extension of the digitalisation of the financial system.

Campos Neto was one of the first central bank leaders to propose that a CBDC should not only replicate physical money, but also bring unprecedented functionalities, such as payment automation via smart contracts, use on decentralised finance platforms (DeFi) and connection with other official digital currencies – such as those of the BRICS.

Under the current Lula administration, the project continues to move forward. The current president of the Central Bank, economist Gabriel Galípolo, plays a key role in the operationalisation of DREX, leading the tests and articulating partnerships for its adoption on a national and international scale.

Advantages of DREX for Brazil: innovation, efficiency and financial sovereignty

The implementation of DREX offers concrete benefits for the country, the banking system and the population:

• Reduced paper money costs: the digitalisation of the real cuts down on printing, transporting and securing physical money.
• More efficiency in the financial system: DREX will allow instant settlements, integrated with smart contracts, reducing intermediaries and increasing transparency.
• Financial inclusion: it could benefit millions of Brazilians who remain underserved by traditional banking services, through secure digital wallets.
• Fostering innovation: it will be the basis for fintechs to develop more accessible and personalised financial products.
• International integration: strengthens Brazil in bilateral and multilateral digital payment agreements, reducing dependence on the dollar.

DREX and BRICS: connecting Brazil to the new global financial architecture

DREX also plays a geopolitical role. Brazil is positioning its CBDC as a bridge between the economies of the Global South, especially in the context of the BRICS. The Central Bank is already conducting interoperability tests with other CBDCS – such as e-CNY (China) and e-Rupee (India) – with the aim of facilitating international transactions in commodities trading, such as iron ore and soya.

This initiative aims to:

• Reduce exchange costs.
• Avoid the dollarisation of international contracts.
• Strengthen local currencies within the BRICS bloc.
• Connect DREX to the future BRICS Pay platform, a multilateral payment system.

BRICS Summit to debate CBDCs

The 17th BRICS Summit will be held on 6 and 7 July 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, with Brazil as the host country and rotating president of the group.

Under the slogan “Strengthening Cooperation in the Global South for more inclusive and sustainable governance”, the summit will debate the reform of global governance, economic integration between developing countries and the advancement of more efficient financial systems.

Among the central themes is the modernisation of international payment systems, with an emphasis on the use of technologies such as blockchain and local currencies (but with no plans to create a single BRICS currency).

Brazil intends to present initiatives such as PIX and DREX (Digital Real) as examples of financial innovation for multilateral trade. The summit is expected to promote solutions to reduce transaction costs and strengthen the financial autonomy of member countries, with DREX playing a strategic role in this process.

DREX as a symbol of the new digital monetary sovereignty

The creation of the DREX marks the beginning of a new chapter in Brazilian monetary policy. It is not just a technical development, but a strategic instrument that can reposition Brazil as a leader in financial innovation in the southern hemisphere.

Initiated under the leadership of Roberto Campos Neto and currently led by Gabriel Galípolo, the DREX project demonstrates institutional continuity and alignment with global challenges, such as the digitalisation of the economy and the dispute over monetary sovereignty.

If successful, the Real Digital will be not only a digital currency, but also Brazil’s passport to the economy of the future.