In a strategic move to modernize rural financing, the city of São Paulo is preparing to launch a microloan program backed by blockchain technology. This project, developed by a Brazilian fintech using Tanssi infrastructure, aims to offer fast and secure loans to small-scale rural producers. The initiative follows the success of a previous pilot project in the town of Santo Antônio da Alegria.
As revealed by Luis Dal Porto, the tech firm’s Director of Business Development, during the Blockchain Conference Brasil, the microlending service is scheduled to go live next month. The system will allow farmers to access up to R$15,000 (approximately $2,800) through an already active mobile app and physical payment terminals, creating a closed ecosystem that facilitates credit control and mitigates financial risks.
Why choose a private appchain over giants like Ethereum or Solana?
The decision to use Tanssi infrastructure instead of public blockchains like Ethereum or Solana was fundamentally based on the need for operational stability. Dal Porto explained that, since public funds are involved, predictability of transaction fees and reliability are non-negotiable factors. Public networks, while popular, often suffer from congestion that raises gas costs unpredictably, which is unviable for a microloan model with tight margins.
On the other hand, “appchain” technology (application-specific blockchains) allows the infrastructure to work invisibly on the backend. In this way, end-users, in this case farmers, benefit from blockchain transparency and security without needing to interact directly with technical complexity, ensuring capital is used for intended purposes and avoiding operational cost volatility.
Furthermore, this launch comes in a context where Brazil’s Central Bank has paused the full deployment of its Drex digital currency. However, municipal initiatives like this demonstrate that technology adoption is not stopping. The previous pilot in Santo Antônio da Alegria had already successfully tested the use of tokens to distribute municipal aid, blocking unauthorized spending such as gambling and ensuring the correct destination of funds.
To conclude, the São Paulo project marks a milestone in integrating blockchain solutions for the real economy. By prioritizing customized infrastructure with Tanssi, the local government not only ensures the program’s efficiency but also establishes a replicable model for financial inclusion in the agricultural sector, anticipating continued growth of private and municipal solutions in parallel with federal developments.
