Deployments · platform by Banco Central do Brasil
Banco Central do Brasil Drex pilot (tokenisation platform with wholesale CBDC)New
Banco Central do Brasil's pilot of Drex, a platform for wholesale CBDC (Drex de Atacado), tokenised bank deposits issued by participants and tokenised federal government bonds. Sixteen institutions and consortia, among them Itaú, Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Caixa, Nubank, BTG Pactual, Banco Inter and B3, joined a private Hyperledger Besu network run with the central bank from July 2023. Phase 1 ended in October 2024 with 1,263 settled test operations, including issuance, auctions, trading and redemption of tokenised Treasury bills, but all clients and assets were fictitious. The phase 1 report (February 2025) found that privacy and data protection requirements were not yet met. Press reports say the central bank told participants in November 2025 that the DLT platform would be switched off and that the first Drex release would not use DLT.
Inactive · discontinued since Nov 2025[2] — The central bank told the pilot consortia in November 2025 that it would switch off the DLT platform; reported by the Brazilian press, not yet in a central bank publication. It reached proof of concept (fictitious assets only). · Reviewed 17d ago
- Assets
- Wholesale central-bank moneyBank depositDebt security[1]Test Drex de Atacado, tokens issued by the central bank against reserve and settlement accounts (simulated values)[1]Test tokenised deposits (Drex de Varejo) issued by participating institutions[1]Test tokenised federal government bonds (TPFt), issued directly on the ledger rather than converted from existing bonds
- Networks
- Jurisdictions
- Brazil
Participants
- Banco Central do BrasilOperator, Platform provider, Issuer[1]Brazil
- Itaú UnibancoCounterparty[1]Brazil
- Banco BradescoCounterparty[1]Brazil
- NubankCounterparty[1]Brazil
- Banco InterCounterparty[1]Brazil
- Caixa Econômica FederalCounterparty[1]Brazil
- BTG PactualCounterparty[1]Brazil
- B3Counterparty[1]Brazil
- Banco do BrasilCounterparty[1]Brazil
- MicrosoftTechnology provider[1]United States
- VisaTechnology provider[1]United States
- MastercardTechnology provider[1]United States
- Banco BVCounterparty[1]Brazil
- ParfinTechnology provider[1]Brazil
- EYTechnology provider[1]United Kingdom
Metrics
- 1,263 operationsTest operations settled (phase 1) · as of Oct 2024[1]Fictitious assets; no money value.
Timeline
- Happened Nov 2025 (month only) · Announcement · recorded 18 Oct 2026According to the press, the central bank tells pilot consortia it will switch off the DLT platform; the first Drex release is to focus on reconciling liens on collateral without DLT.[2]
- Happened Feb 2025 (month only) · Announcement · recorded 18 Oct 2026The central bank publishes the phase 1 report, concluding that privacy, data protection and security need more work.[1]
- Happened Oct 2024 (month only) · Production milestone · recorded 18 Oct 2026Phase 1 of the pilot ends after 1,263 settled test operations on tokenised Treasury bills.[1]
- Happened Jul 2023 (month only) · Launch · recorded 18 Oct 2026The central bank begins onboarding the sixteen selected participants to the Drex pilot platform.[1]
Sources
- [1]Relatório do Piloto Drex – Fase 1 (Drex pilot report, phase 1) — Banco Central do Brasil, Feb 2025. Accessed 18 Oct 2026. In Portuguese; our summary is translated.A
- [2]Central bank ends the Drex (Real Digital) project — Gazeta do Povo, 5 Nov 2025. Accessed 18 Oct 2026. In Portuguese; our summary is translated. Reports the decision from a meeting with consortium representatives; cites Valor Investe and unnamed sources. Other outlets date the meeting 4 Nov and the switch-off 10 Nov 2025..C
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