This weekend, the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro is hosting a stage of the PGA Tour Americas. Golf in Brazil is still a niche sport. But then came the question: do we have more people playing golf… or programming smart contracts in the country?
Searching LinkedIn, the term “Solidity” with location set to Brazil returns about 2,600 results. According to the Brazilian Golf Confederation, there are currently more than 26,000 active players. That means we have almost ten times more people trying to land golf shots than writing smart contracts on blockchain.
As unusual as it may sound, this comparison helps reveal a current — and especially future — reality of our digital financial system. Particularly the one being built around DREX.
At the core of DREX’s architecture is a DLT infrastructure compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), operating in a permissioned, regulated, and interoperable environment with the Brazilian National Financial System. This brings much more robust requirements: clear governance, traceability, formal security, and integration with compliance rules and banking settlement. Here, a smart contract doesn’t run in an experimental or anonymous environment — it runs under a regulatory logic, with direct impact on credit, assets, and even the money itself.
That’s why experience in Solidity — especially applied to permissioned environments, with development standards, testing, and controlled deployment — will become one of the most valued skills in this new era of programmable finance. And here lies the gap: few professionals in Brazil — and even globally — master this specific set of capabilities. You need to understand the Ethereum ecosystem, know how to model secure and performant contracts, and, at the same time, navigate the technical and regulatory requirements of DREX. It’s not just about knowing Solidity: it’s about having real-world experience at the intersection of crypto, regulation, and mission-critical environments. And let’s be honest — that kind of talent is rarer than a hole-in-one in a pro tournament.
In this programming game, Artificial Intelligence emerges as an ally. Tools like specialized copilots, AI-assisted formal validation, parameterized contract generators, and even LLMs trained on regulatory documentation and tokenization frameworks can accelerate and democratize development. But professionals with solid (pun intended) experience in Solidity and regulated DLTs will be the ones paving the way — and, hopefully, teaching the next generation how to play.
The public distributed infrastructure being built enables very different players to get on the field: fintechs, banks, cooperatives, startups, multiple regulators, devs and non-devs. But for that to happen, we need to expand the base. We need to train people. Because there’s no point in having the field ready if no one knows how to play.
In the coming years, golf will likely remain a niche sport. But tokenized money, digital assets, and programmable contracts? Those won’t. They are the future of the financial system. The only question is: will you watch, or will you play?