What Is Avenia and How Pix Works at Picnic

Avenia is the partner that connects Pix to your Picnic account. When you deposit reais by Pix, Avenia receives the payment and delivers the amount to your account. When you withdraw to a Pix key or pay a Pix QR code, Avenia is the one that gets the money to the other side.

Pix, Brazil's instant payment system, is how almost everyone in Brazil starts using Picnic. That is why it is worth understanding who is behind it.

What is Avenia?

Avenia is a payments infrastructure company that connects Latin America to the rest of the world. It offers a platform and an API to send, receive, convert and hold money across countries, integrated with local payment methods such as Pix in Brazil and SPEI in Mexico.

Avenia is also the issuer of BRLA, a stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real. A stablecoin is a digital token that tracks the value of a traditional currency; in the case of BRLA, each unit is worth one real. According to Avenia, BRLA is fully backed and transparent, and it was built for fast, low-cost settlement in Brazil.

How does Pix work at Picnic?

Picnic uses Avenia for three everyday operations:

1. Pix deposit. You send a regular Pix from your bank's app. Avenia receives that Pix and issues the equivalent amount in BRLA straight into your Picnic account. If the deposit is going to the card balance, that amount then moves on to be converted by Deframe.
2. Withdrawal to a Pix key. When you send reais from Picnic to a Pix key, the BRLA leaves your account and Avenia pays out the Pix to the recipient.
3. Paying a Pix QR code. You can pay a Pix copy-and-paste code or a QR code from your reais balance, with Avenia handling the settlement.

In all these cases, the experience is that of a regular Pix. You do not need to deal with tokens, networks or wallets to deposit or withdraw reais.

Why a digital real, and not a bank balance?

This is the part that sets Picnic apart from a traditional digital account.

When the Pix comes in, it becomes BRLA in your own account, a smart account under your control. From there, the reais balance can be converted into digital dollars, used on the card or sent to another wallet, without sitting in a balance controlled only by the company. We explain the logic of holding assets under your own control in the guide what is self-custody.

Avenia is the bridge between the two worlds: on one side, the Pix every Brazilian knows; on the other, a digital real that works inside your Picnic account.

What about identity verification?

As with any service that moves reais through the Brazilian payment system, Pix at Picnic requires identity verification. It is a regulatory requirement, and it is what allows money to come in and go out in your name. Once you are verified, Pix deposits and withdrawals work without extra steps.

Why does this matter to you?

• You use the Pix you already know. No boleto, no TED bank transfer, no international wire to get started.
• Your reais reach your account. The deposit becomes a balance in digital reais in your account, not a promise of payment.
• The way out is also Pix. When you want to go back to your bank, just withdraw to a Pix key.

If your goal is to buy digital dollars, the step-by-step guide is in how to buy digital dollars with Pix. If you already have digital dollars and want to go back to reais, see where to sell USDT and receive reais by Pix (in Portuguese).

Thank you, Avenia

Making Pix work inside a self-custody account is not trivial. It takes a partner with liquidity, structure and the patience to solve the cases that only show up in the real world. Avenia is building this with Picnic, and every Pix that comes into or goes out of the app relies on that work. Thank you to the Avenia team for the partnership.

Picnic is a technology platform that lets users independently interact with USDC, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, on public blockchains. USDC is not legal tender in Brazil.

Displayed exchange rates vary with market conditions. The final applicable amount is the one shown on the transaction confirmation screen. Cryptoassets involve risks, including volatility and loss of peg.

Picnic does not custody user assets and is neither a financial institution nor a virtual asset service provider. Sending and receiving U.S. dollar payments through a U.S. account is offered in partnership with Noah Savings Inc. Terms and conditions apply.

Information verified in April 2026.