When the use of the Pix was announced in 2020, many doubts came to light. Years later, the payment method became popular and more than 140 million Brazilians have already used the payment method. To give you an idea, according to the Central Bank, since the creation of the Pix, the use of cash has fallen 11% in Brazil. Even before him, 30% of the volume of transactions were already carried out on credit and debit cards in the country. In other words, we have been living in a world of digital money for many years, but the arrival of Drex, the so-called digital real, promises to accelerate this transformation even more.

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Drex and Pix are payment methods, however, each one has its own peculiarities. While Pix is used for simple and fast everyday payments, Drex will be suitable for more complex transactions involving multiple conditions and guarantees.

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Drex is a platform that offers a payment and financial transaction system based on smart contracts. These smart contracts allow transactions to be conditioned to certain events, ensuring more security and trust for the parties involved.

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For example, you are going to buy a car, but you want to make sure that the payment will only come out of your account when the vehicle transfer comes to you, when you receive the DUT (Single Transfer Document), so you must use Drex. That way, the money doesn't leave your account until the car goes into your name, but the car doesn't go into your name until the money leaves your account. If any end of the transaction goes wrong, the deal doesn't happen and neither the seller nor the buyer loses anything. Drex helps to carry out safe operations with guarantees.

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This technology is especially useful in more complex financial transactions, such as the purchase of high-value assets, loans with specific guarantees, or any situation where it is necessary to ensure that the agreed conditions are met before payment is made.

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In addition, Drex can also be used to provide guarantees in financial transactions, such as in the case of a loan where you use part of your investments in Treasury Direct, for example. In this case, the money only leaves your account if you don't pay the loan and you end up cheapening your credit by providing guarantees. This is done through smart contracts, bringing more security and facilitating operations that would not be possible with Pix alone.

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So, while Pix is ideal for simple everyday payments, Drex is more appropriate for complex transactions that require specific guarantees and conditions. Both have their distinct uses and benefits.

The Drex Story

The Central Bank of Brazil has been developing Drex for a few years and the new Brazilian digital currency will be launched to the population at the end of 2024. It is already being tested in a pilot project involving large companies and financial institutions, as well as startups in the sector.

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Drex's core idea is to unite money and technology. The acronym already helps to understand the meaning: “D” represents the word “digital”; “R” represents “real”; “E” symbolizes the word “electronic”; and “X” conveys the idea of modernity and connection, in addition to repeating the last letter of the Pix, an instant transfer system.

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Drex is enough to make more complex transactions and incorporates the blockchain system, a storage technology considered inviolable, irreversible, and intrusion-proof, which records and tracks asset transactions, encrypting information and reducing the risk of attacks.

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Despite this, Drex is not a cryptocurrency, whose main characteristic is decentralized management and the absence of oversight. The currency will be officially regulated and controlled by a monetary authority — the Central Bank. In addition, it will not change in price, since it is only a virtual representation of the real.

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The creation of Drex follows a global trend. Over 90 countries have similar projects underway, and the BIS (Bank for International Settlements) predicts that more than 20 digital currencies will be in circulation worldwide by the year 2030. Digital currencies meet new social and market demands, driven mainly by the digitalization of the economy and the increase in the digital and financial inclusion of the population.

The impacts of Drex on the market

Drex will facilitate access to financial transactions involving large volumes and more complex operations. It will be possible, for example, to buy and sell public bonds, deposit salaries and carry out the tax refund planned by the Tax Reform.

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The idea is that the money deposited in the bank is immediately converted into Drex through a process called tokenization - when a physical asset is transformed into a digital asset. This amount will be stored in a virtual wallet, operated by financial institutions, such as banks and bank correspondents. Individuals and companies will be able to use Drex, which promises to be another important chapter for the country's economy.

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