Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Banco Central do Brasil, presented the final concept for the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real, at an online event on November 25. The concept revolves around 'Open Finance' and showcases a super app that integrates the PIX payments network along with multiple stablecoins, providing users with a unified view of both traditional and crypto assets.
Open Finance Super App: One-Stop Asset Aggregation
Campos Neto explained that the digital real, still under development, is designed to be interoperable with the existing PIX instant payment system and decentralized finance (DeFi) structures. The mockup app allows users to hold the CBDC, stablecoins, and other bank assets in a single interface. 'This is basically a teaser of what this integration I’m talking about will be,' he said. 'Instead of having several apps on your cell phone, from several banks, you will have some kind of integrator.' Users can thus view their entire savings portfolio—both traditional and crypto—in one place.
Digital Real as a Bridge to DeFi
Campos Neto emphasized that the digital real is part of Brazil's push toward monetary digitization. 'The digital real part is a bridge to the defi environment. We are bringing the digital world to the banking system,' he noted, contrasting this approach with other central banks that he said are 'pushing digital out of banking.' Meanwhile, the European Union is studying a digital euro, the New York Fed is piloting wholesale digital money, and a proposal has emerged in Argentina to eliminate physical cash. Brazil's central bank has not set a completion date for the digital real, as testing of various implementations continues. By directly connecting CBDC with stablecoins and DeFi, the digital real stands out among global CBDC projects, signaling Brazil's ambition to build an open platform that merges traditional finance with crypto finance.