Blockchain and corruption control: the case of the Brazil Blockchain Network

Abstract

This paper examines how blockchain technology can mitigate corruption in the Brazilian public sector, with a focus on the Rede Brasil Blockchain (RBB), an initiative of the TCU and BNDES. Using the RBB as a case study, we conducted a thematic analysis based on TCU decisions, official documents, and the transcript of its launch. Six themes emerged: trust, transparency, and control; governance and sustainability; skills and training; public services and the citizen; and innovation. These themes were organized into a three-stage transformation process model: enabling infrastructure, public sector transformation, and social impacts. The discussion relates the RBB to the paradigms of New Public Management (NPM) and New Public Governance (NPG), proposing the New Trustless Public Governance (NPTG), which describes blockchain as a trust machine. The results indicate that the RBB promotes transparency and control through shared governance, depending on digital maturity, institutional capacity, and innovation readiness.