Drex: Brazil’s new digital currency gets a name

The Central Bank on Monday announced that Brazil’s official digital currency will be named Drex, replacing the provisional name ‘Digital Real’. No deadline was given for the launch of the digital currency.

Drex “will provide a safe and regulated environment for the creation of new businesses, and more democratic access to the benefits of a digitized economy for citizens and entrepreneurs,” the Central Bank said in a statement.

The ‘d’ and ‘r’ in Drex are a reference to ‘digital Real’, the ‘e’ is a nod to ‘electronic’, while the ‘x’ is a reference to Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system.

Aristides Cavalcante, chief of CyberSecurity and Technological Innovation at the Central Bank, said in a live broadcast that Drex will make financial products and services cheaper. Private assets sold currently for a minimum value of BRL 1,000 (USD 204), for example, could be easily fragmented into smaller BRL 10 or BRL 5 tokenized deposits, “making investments much more affordable” to the general public.

“With the growing trend towards the digitalization of our society, it is important to coordinate the market development process, guaranteeing an environment that is not fragmented and that offers security for entrepreneurs and consumers,” the Central Bank says in a FAQ section on its website.

Drex will be fully convertible into cash and conventional bank deposits.

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