Ex-Brazil Central Bank Official Tony Volpon Unveils Yield-Sharing Stablecoin
Yahoo Finance·2026-01-07 16:33

Core Insights - A new stablecoin named BRD has been announced, pegged to Brazil's currency and designed to share interest earned from government bond reserves with its holders [1] - The Brazilian benchmark Selic interest rate is currently at 15%, the highest since July 2006, creating an attractive environment for high-yield investments [1] - BRD is being issued by CF Inovação, targeting large financial institutions looking to access Brazil's government debt through a digital token structure [1] Company Overview - Tony Volpon, a former Deputy Governor for International Affairs at Brazil's Central Bank, co-founded CF Inovação in 2023, initially focusing on real estate tokenization [2][3] - Volpon has over 30 years of experience in financial markets, having held managing director positions at UBS and Nomura Securities [3] Market Context - The global stablecoin market has a total capitalization of $299.15 billion, with a monthly transfer volume of $6.86 trillion, while Brazilian real stablecoins represent a small segment with approximately $20 million in on-chain circulation [4] - BRD enters a developing market for real-pegged stablecoins that offer interest-sharing models, similar to yield-bearing security tokens in the U.S. [4][5] Competitive Landscape - Crown's BRLV, which launched about 18 months ago, has secured R$360 million (approximately $67 million) in commitments, with around $19 million currently in circulation [5] - Transfero's BRZ claims the largest market position among real-pegged tokens but shows only $13.6 million in on-chain circulation [6] Regulatory Environment - Brazil is set to implement new cryptocurrency regulations, classifying stablecoin transactions as foreign-exchange operations, subjecting providers to the same oversight as currency exchange businesses [7] - The Brazilian crypto market reached 227 billion reais (approximately $42.8 billion) in transactions in the first half of 2025, with stablecoins accounting for about 90% of the volume [7]