What Is Gnosis Chain and Why Picnic Uses It

Gnosis Chain is the blockchain network that holds your Picnic card balances and the digital euros in your account. It comes from Gnosis, an organization that has been building in the Ethereum ecosystem for about a decade, the same one that gave rise to other pieces Picnic uses every day.

If you have seen "Gnosis" in the app or on a statement and wondered what it was, this post explains who Gnosis is, what Gnosis Chain is and why it was chosen.

Who is Gnosis?

Gnosis describes itself as an organization that has spent the last decade building at the frontier of the digitization of capital. Much of what is now core Ethereum infrastructure started inside it:

• Safe, the smart account that holds the assets of people who use Picnic, was born at Gnosis as Gnosis Safe. We tell that story in the post about Safe.
• CoW Protocol, the foundation of CoW Swap, was also built inside Gnosis.
• Gnosis Pay, the card and stablecoin payments infrastructure, is another product from the same ecosystem. We explain its role in the post about Gnosis Pay.

According to Gnosis itself, Safe and CoW Protocol became independent projects after votes by GnosisDAO, the organization that governs the ecosystem.

What is Gnosis Chain?

A blockchain is a public, shared record of transactions, kept by many computers at the same time. Each blockchain is a different "network", with its own rules, costs and speed. That is why, when you send crypto, you need to choose the right network, as we explain in sending crypto on the wrong network (in Portuguese).

Gnosis Chain is one of those networks. It is compatible with Ethereum, which means Ethereum accounts, contracts and tools work on it the same way. Gnosis describes the network as combining the security and flexibility of a layer-2 network with the diversity and depth of Ethereum.

Why does Picnic use Gnosis Chain?

At Picnic, Gnosis Chain shows up in three places:

1. Card balances. The money on your Picnic card sits on Gnosis Chain, in an account under your control. Card purchases are settled from that balance.
2. Digital euros. EURe, the digital euro issued by Monerium that arrives through the euro account's IBAN, lives on Gnosis Chain.
3. Your Safe. Gnosis Chain is one of the networks where Picnic creates your Safe, along with other networks such as Ethereum, Polygon, Base and Arbitrum.

There are good reasons to keep the card and the euro on the same network. Transactions on the network tend to be fast and low-cost, the network is compatible with Ethereum, and much of the card, euro and smart account infrastructure was born there. Bringing these pieces together in one place reduces the number of conversions and steps between networks.

Do you need to know how to use Gnosis Chain?

No. Picnic handles the technical side. You do not need to hold the network's token to pay the fees for transactions made through the app, and you do not need to choose the network to use the card. Gnosis Chain only shows up for you in specific situations, such as when you want to deposit or withdraw crypto and need to state the source or destination network.

In those cases, pay attention: sending a token on the wrong network is one of the most common mistakes in crypto. When the app asks for the network, check that it matches the one on the other side.

Why does this matter to you?

The choice of network defines how much each operation costs and how long it takes. An expensive network would make it impractical to use the card for small everyday purchases. An unreliable network would put the balance at risk. Gnosis Chain combines low cost, Ethereum compatibility and a long track record of serious infrastructure, and that is why the Picnic card runs on it.

Thank you, Gnosis

It is hard to overstate how present the work of Gnosis is in Picnic: the account is a Safe, the card runs on Gnosis Chain, and some swaps go through CoW Protocol. Thank you to the Gnosis team for a decade of building open infrastructure, and for doing it in a way that lets projects like Picnic exist.

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.