Looking Drex, the Brazilian CBDC with and without blockchain

Idea | Intro | << #blockchaincat >>

As being Brazilian the Blockchain Cat author heard that the government postponed the blockchain use in Drex, the name of its CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Even though it hasn't been officially ruled out yet, it was a shock to him, almost as big as the demise of the Starbucks Odyssey projects on Polygon and the Nike Rtfkt on Ethereum.

It made it clear that the initial idea of using blockchain had an "owner", the former president of the Central Bank used to puffing out his chest when he talked about Drex as "programmable money." A polyphonic line of reasoning we see in DeFi being slowly and irreversibly institutionalized.

But there are also those who are radically against CBDCs, people who fear the government controlling/tracking every pocket and prefer companies to handle it. I imagine a centralized Drex reinforces this group's argument, stigmatizing all digital currencies as technologies of centralization, surveillance, and digital tyranny. From what we've heard, the recent Genius Act explicitly left the US government out of this, handing the ball to companies and organizations to use their stablecoins, ultimately based on the dollar.

And for crypto purists, without a massive use case for DLT or permissioned blockchains like Drex, I think it removes a threat, one less dark cloud on the horizon. We don't know if this fear exists in blockchain communities, but I think the entire Web3 discourse of decentralization, self-custody, and autonomy risks being absorbed or sidelined by large corporations (and governments), as has already happened with p2p music and video sharing.

Many thanks! Keep safe and good luck again!!

9/5/2025 @wagnertamanaha

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Idea | Intro | << #blockchaincat >>