Tony Volpon, a former director at the Central Bank of Brazil, has unveiled BRD, a novel stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real (BRL) that shares yield with its holders. The token will be backed by Brazilian National Treasury bonds, directly linking its value to sovereign debt and aiming to provide holders with exposure to Brazil's high local interest rates.
Speaking on the "Cripto na Real" program on CNN Brasil, Volpon explained that the central bank's benchmark Selic interest rate stands at 15%—the highest level since July 2006—compared to the U.S. Federal Reserve's target of 3.5%-3.75%. "The ability to remunerate stablecoin holders with the interest rates offered by Brazil will obviously be a major draw, especially for institutional investors," Volpon stated during the program.
The goal is to make Brazil's high-yield environment more accessible to foreign investors, who have historically faced barriers due to regulation, currency friction, and domestic infrastructure. Volpon also suggested that the stablecoin could support demand for the country's debt, potentially lowering government borrowing costs by expanding the investor base.
BRD will be issued by Volpon's company, CF Inovação, which he founded with José Carneiro in 2023. The product enters a competitive but small market for real-pegged stablecoins, with a total on-chain circulation of approximately $20 million across all issuers. The dominant player is Transfero's BRZ, with a market capitalization of $185 million. Other competitors include BBRL ($51 million market cap), BRL1 (backed by exchanges Mercado Bitcoin and Bitso), and the Celo-native cREAL.
BRD aims to distinguish itself as the first real-pegged token explicitly structured to share the yield from its government debt backing with holders. However, it is not alone in this model. Brazilian startup Crown's BRLV token, which launched about 18 months ago, already offers a similar yield-bearing structure to institutional investors. Crown has secured roughly $67 million in commitments, with about $19 million in active circulation, and raised $13.5 million in a Series A round led by Paradigm in December 2025.
The announcement comes as Brazil prepares to implement new cryptocurrency regulations on February 2, 2026. The Central Bank's recent resolutions classify stablecoin transactions as foreign-exchange operations, subjecting providers to the same oversight as currency exchange businesses. Brazil's crypto market saw 227 billion reais ($42.8 billion) in transactions in the first half of 2025, with stablecoins accounting for roughly 90% of the volume. No specific deployment timeline for BRD has been announced.
