Ten cows on a dairy farm in Paraná, Brazil, have been used in what Decrypt described as the first livestock collateral transaction formally registered on the country’s stock exchange. The structure puts blockchain-linked animal data into a farm credit deal, offering a live test of whether tokenizing real-world assets can help producers facing fewer financing options.
Ten cows backed a rural credit certificate
Fazenda Engenho Velho, located in Imbituva, used 10 cows valued at R$120,000, or about $23,310, to secure a CPR-F worth R$100,000, or about $19,420. The CPR-F, short for Cédula de Produto Rural Financeira, is Brazil’s rural credit certificate and allows farmers to borrow against livestock or crops.
The lender was BMP, a direct credit company authorized by Brazil’s central bank. BMP later sold those credit rights to Target FIDC, a fund that buys and monetizes receivables. The full transaction was then registered on B3, Brazil’s main stock exchange.
Each cow received an encrypted digital identity
The animals were tokenized for the transaction. Each cow was assigned a unique encrypted digital ID created from health, behavior, and location data collected by smart collars built by Cowmed, an agricultural technology startup that uses AI to monitor dairy herds.
According to the report, Cowmed’s system cryptographically hashes those data points into a tamper-resistant identifier that is tied directly to the credit contract. The setup removes the need for a farm inspection.
Why lenders discount livestock so heavily
Banks often apply steep discounts to livestock when it is used as collateral, cutting valuations by as much as 60%, the report said. A cow worth R$20,000, or about $2,380, can be counted at only R$8,000, or about $1,600, for lending purposes.
The reason is practical. Lenders usually do not have a reliable way to track an animal’s condition or confirm that it is still alive. Humberto Brenner, a director at Target FIDC, told Globo Rural, “With monitoring, that uncertainty is eliminated.” He added: “Banks will increasingly demand real collateral and new information.”
Credit pressure is rising across Brazilian agribusiness
The backdrop is a tighter financing environment for Brazil’s farm sector. Serasa Experian said agribusiness bankruptcy protection requests, known locally as recuperação judicial and described in the report as Brazil’s version of Chapter 11, reached 1,990 in 2025. That was nearly four times the 534 requests filed in 2023.
Decrypt said high interest rates, falling commodity prices, and climate shocks have combined to create a slow-moving credit emergency for the sector.
Cowmed says the model gives farmers another financing route
Cowmed CEO Thiago Martins presented the transaction as a direct response to those conditions. In comments to CNN Brazil, he said, “We took the cow, a real and tangible asset, and transformed it into a digital asset backed by a unique code monitored in real time.”
He also said, “This digitalization allows formal registration on B3 as a financial security—the process gives the farmer an advantageous opportunity to get financing, opening a new collateral alternative at a time of strong credit restrictions in agribusiness.”
On the benefits for producers, Martins said: “The operation allows the farmer to access more attractive credit in terms of cost and limit. We want to connect the farmer and the financial institution with a new alternative.”
Part of a larger RWA tokenization trend
The transaction sits within the broader push to tokenize real-world assets, or RWA, by turning physical assets into digital tokens that can be used as financial instruments. Decrypt said that tokenized U.S. Treasuries and real estate have already helped push total value locked across DeFi platforms past $10 billion.
Cowmed is applying that logic to cattle.
Cowmed is monitoring 100,000 cows across six countries
The company said it currently monitors 100,000 cows across 1,200 farms in Brazil, the United States, Canada, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. The estimated value of that herd is R$2 billion, or about $395.4 million.
Martins said 20% of that herd, equal to R$400 million or about $77.6 million, could be pledged as tokenized collateral within two years. Target FIDC is already evaluating four more Brazilian farmers, and the companies are aiming to generate R$5 million, or about $971,000, in credit through this model by the end of 2026.