But what happened? How did DREX, which seemed inevitable in shaping the financial future, simply cease to exist?
DREX has come to an end. What was once announced as the great financial revolution has simply vanished. Central banks, fintechs, and digital giants no longer mention its name. The acronym “CBDC,” once synonymous with innovation, has become a mere footnote in economics books.
But what happened? How did DREX, which seemed inevitable in shaping the financial future, simply disappear?
For decades, our relationship with money was shaped by cards, digital accounts, QR Codes, and bank transfers. Physical cash lost its relevance, yet its electronic version still required conscious actions: validating, authorizing, checking statements. Until, little by little, these interactions disappeared.
Payments became instant, connected, intelligent, and invisible.
Transactions, once a deliberate action, dissolved into the user journey. There is no more friction or waiting. It just happens. Transportation is paid for the moment you step off. Your purchases are registered in your “digital inventory” and settled in the most efficient way. Services are adjusted automatically by smart contracts, ensuring the best cost-benefit ratio without requiring your intervention.
The most profound change did not occur in payment methods but in the very logic of financial interaction. If managing accounts, balances, and transactions was once necessary, now financial intelligence does it for you. Algorithms refine your economic decisions in real-time, ensuring that each payment happens at the optimal moment, with the lowest cost, and maximum efficiency.
The distinction between currencies has ceased to exist. You don’t “buy” something in reais, dollars, or cryptocurrencies. The system dynamically chooses the best way to settle the transaction, converting assets in real-time, without human intervention.
What we once called DREX now operates silently in the background of the global economy. It has become part of the Finternet, the invisible layer that connects currencies, data, and smart contracts in an interoperable, programmable, and scalable structure.
Now, in 2035, no one discusses “payment methods” anymore. The concept sounds as outdated as debating “how to access the internet.” Payments have become a natural event within a fluid financial ecosystem. They occur effortlessly and frictionlessly.
Physical stores have evolved into immersive experiences. You walk in, pick up a product, and walk out. Your digital inventory and financial intelligence take care of the rest. Digital marketplaces have learned to negotiate on your behalf, always ensuring the best purchasing conditions.
Artificial intelligence has transformed money into an adaptive mechanism, optimizing consumption and credit based on your profile and market conditions.
The history of financial technologies is marked by cycles of innovation and obsolescence. What is revolutionary today becomes invisible tomorrow. If we go back to 2025, we see the early signs of this transformation: the rise of programmable payments, the personalization of financial experiences, and the dematerialization of money.
DREX did not cease to exist. It became so efficient, so seamless, and so integrated into the world that no one needs to talk about it anymore.
📌 Article originally published in Inovativos