Brazil's New Power Outlet for Credit: Tokenization Unlocks Capital for Struggling Merchants

Brazil’s merchant economy faces a persistent cash flow crisis. With 70% of credit card transactions in Brazil processed through installment plans stretching up to 12 months, merchants must wait an equivalent period to receive full payment. This structural bottleneck costs businesses in emerging markets an estimated $100 billion annually in lost working capital access. Now, a new tokenization platform is positioning itself as the power outlet that connects Brazilian merchants to instant liquidity, powered by blockchain infrastructure and global institutional capital.

BlackOpal, an onchain asset management platform, has launched GemStone, a solution designed to transform how Brazilian merchants monetize their receivables. The platform addresses a specific pain point: rather than holding credit card debt for months, merchants can immediately sell their receivables at a discount, with BlackOpal purchasing, tokenizing them on the Plume Network blockchain, and reselling them to institutional investors worldwide.

The Brazilian Credit Card Market: Scale and Opportunity

Brazil’s credit card ecosystem generates substantial receivables volumes. The nation’s central bank, through its regulatory frameworks and emerging fintech infrastructure, has created conditions favorable for financial innovation. The DREX digital currency project exemplifies Brazil’s commitment to blockchain-based financial modernization. Within this context, the credit card receivables market represents a largely untapped asset class—one that institutional capital has historically overlooked despite its scale and reliability.

The fundamental challenge for Brazilian merchants centers on timing mismatch. When customers swipe their cards and opt for installment payments, merchants don’t immediately access funds. Instead, they face a waiting period while card networks process and settle transactions. This delay forces many small businesses to seek costly alternative financing, creating inefficiency across the entire merchant ecosystem.

How GemStone Tokenizes Receivables for Merchant Benefit

BlackOpal’s approach hinges on a legally recognized structure called a “true sale”—a transaction where the seller (merchant) transfers complete ownership, rights, risks, and rewards of accounts receivable to the buyer (BlackOpal). Under this framework, merchants receive 95 cents on the dollar immediately, transforming months of waiting into same-day settlement.

The ownership transfer is registered through Brazil’s Central Bank C3 Registry, anchoring the transaction in regulatory infrastructure. When Visa or Mastercard automatically remits full payment, the funds flow to BlackOpal rather than the original merchant—a critical distinction that eliminates collection risk from the investor’s perspective. The institution’s perspective shifts from “if payment arrives” to “when payment arrives,” because the card networks themselves guarantee fulfillment.

GemStone then tokenizes these receivables on the Plume Network, creating digital representations of the underlying payment obligations. These tokens are subsequently distributed to institutional buyers, who capture the spread between discounted purchase price and full redemption value. The mechanism simplifies what might otherwise require complex bilateral negotiations into a transparent, blockchain-mediated market structure.

Institutional-Grade Yield: 13% Returns in an Emerging Market

Token holders participating in GemStone earn an annualized yield of 13% in USD-denominated, FX-hedged terms. This return profile addresses a critical investor need: access to emerging market yield premiums without currency volatility or inflation exposure. The comparison is stark—U.S. 10-year Treasury notes currently offer 4.2% annual returns. Institutional investors seeking income enhancement can access nearly triple the yield, with credit risk effectively shouldered by card networks themselves.

The risk structure underlying GemStone differs fundamentally from traditional emerging market credit exposure. Because payment obligations originate from Visa and Mastercard transaction settlement rather than corporate or sovereign borrowers, default risk remains minimal. Card networks have institutional incentives and technical capabilities to ensure payment flows, creating what CEO Jason Dehni describes as “institutional-grade emerging market yield.”

Mars Capital Advisors Backs GemStone With $200M Commitment

The platform’s launch is anchored by $200 million in committed capital from Mars Capital Advisors, a Switzerland-based asset manager overseeing $2 billion in total advisory assets. Mars Capital specializes in working capital solutions for underserved markets, making GemStone an aligned investment within its portfolio strategy.

Rick Pearson, Mars Capital’s CEO, framed Brazilian credit card receivables as “a massive, liquid asset class that has been underserved by institutional capital.” The firm’s three-year commitment signals confidence in both the market opportunity and BlackOpal’s execution capability. This capital acts as an initial liquidity provider, stabilizing the platform during its launch phase while establishing a track record for subsequent institutional participants.

Advisors and Market Positioning

Draupnir Capital, a specialist firm focused on institutional private credit intersecting with Web3 infrastructure, served as the sole lead adviser and capital introduction partner. Their involvement underscores the growing convergence between traditional credit markets and blockchain-based settlement mechanisms.

Why Brazil Represents the Ideal Market for Emerging Asset Tokenization

Brazil’s financial environment demonstrates unusual alignment for this type of innovation. The nation has already developed sophisticated real estate tokenization frameworks, indicating regulatory acceptance of blockchain-based asset representation. The DREX project—the Central Bank’s digital currency initiative—demonstrates institutional commitment to distributed ledger technology. Additionally, Brazil’s merchant base constitutes a substantial and growing user population, ensuring sufficient transaction volume to sustain secondary market liquidity.

The convergence of these factors—established tokenization precedent, central bank digital currency infrastructure, and a $100 billion merchant receivables market—positions GemStone as both an immediate solution and a template for similar applications across other emerging economies.

The platform represents more than financial engineering; it signals a fundamental shift in how emerging markets access capital and manage credit workflows. By connecting Brazilian merchants to global institutional investors through tokenized receivables, GemStone plugs into the infrastructure that emerging market businesses require to thrive.