What Drex is, and how it differs from a stablecoin

A central bank project for the real

As the central bank describes it, Drex would make secure financial transactions with digital assets available on a single platform run by the Banco Central. You would reach it through an authorized intermediary, such as your bank, which would move money from your account into a Drex wallet. Drex would be in reais, like any other real.

Where does Drex stand today?

So far, Drex has existed only as a test. According to the Drex pilot page, the participants were the central bank, the securities regulator (CVM), the National Treasury, and authorized institutions. End users did not take part; their operations were simulated. Phase 1 and phase 2 are both marked as closed.

The central bank’s answer about the launch date is that there is no specific date, and that tests with the public would come only once the project and market participants were mature enough. In August 2025, reports quoting central bank officials said the next stage would focus on registering liens on assets used as collateral for loans, and would not start on blockchain.

So if someone offers you Drex today, a Drex wallet, or a way to buy it early, the offer is not genuine. The central bank’s own pages are the place to check for news.

Drex, Pix, and digital money from a central bank

A central bank digital currency is a digital form of money issued by the central bank itself, as the Bank for International Settlements explains. Drex was designed in that family: a digital real tied to the Banco Central, aimed at transactions with digital financial assets, with retail use simulated in the pilot.

Pix is a different thing. It already moves reais between accounts in seconds, and it is how most Brazilians pay each other. The central bank presents the two as separate tools: Pix for everyday payments in reais, and Drex for financial services with digital assets.

Neither is a cryptocurrency. Pix moves money between accounts at regulated institutions, and Drex, as designed, would settle on a platform run by the central bank, not on an open network that anyone can join.

What would change for you if Drex launched?

The central bank’s case for Drex is cheaper and simpler financial services. Its Drex page argues that a single, standardized platform would cut steps and costs and let new providers offer services, such as buying a government bond or using an investment as collateral for a loan, with settlement on the same platform.

None of that changes what you do today. Your reais in a bank account, your Pix keys, and your investments are not affected by the pilot. If Drex does launch for the public, it would reach you through your bank, as another way your institution handles your money, not as a coin you buy from a stranger.

Until then, judge any digital-money product by the questions that matter for all of them: who issues it, what backs it, who controls the account, and what it costs to get in and out.

How a dollar stablecoin is different

A dollar stablecoin such as USDC has little in common with Drex beyond being digital. It is issued by a private company, Circle; it tracks the US dollar instead of the real; and it already exists on public blockchains. Circle reports that most reserves sit in a government money market fund, with the rest held as cash at banks.

In Brazil, stablecoins have their own rules. Since February 2, 2026, under BCB Resolution 521, buying, selling, or exchanging virtual assets referenced to a fiat currency through a service provider counts as a foreign-exchange operation, and so do transfers to or from a self-custodial wallet. The table compares the three.

What Lex offers, and what it does not

Lex does not offer Drex; no one can yet. What Lex offers in Brazil is a Pix route for adding money. When it is available for your account, a Pix deposit arrives as wBRL, a token issued by Ripio that tracks the real. wBRL is a private token on a public blockchain, not Drex and not money issued by the central bank.

You can keep wBRL or convert it to US Dollar, which is how Lex shows USDC, with a quote that shows the rate and the minimum you will receive. Lex charges no fee for the conversion. The balance sits in a self-custodial account that only you can move. The guide to buying digital dollars with Pix walks through each step.

If you are choosing between keeping reais and holding dollars, Drex does not change that decision. It would still be a real, with the same exchange-rate exposure as the reais you already have.

An example: an offer to buy Drex early

Illustrative example. Marcos, in Curitiba, gets a message from an unknown number: a platform is selling Drex before launch, with a 10% bonus for anyone who converts savings now by Pix. The message has a logo that looks like the central bank’s and a countdown timer.

Marcos checks the central bank’s pages. The pilot has closed its phases, end users were never part of it, and there is no launch date. Nobody can sell Drex, so the offer is a scam that borrows the project’s name. He does not reply and does not pay.

He also warns his mother, who received the same message. Had she paid, the right step would have been to contact her bank at once and ask about the Pix refund mechanism. Checking the official source took Marcos two minutes; recovering money sent to a scammer is slow and uncertain.