Brazilian Payments Giant PicPay Is Set To Integrate Crypto Payments

PicPay, one of the largest payments platforms in Brazil, has disclosed plans to integrate crypto payments in diverse forms on its app. As one of the most used payments apps in Brazil, the company is looking to leverage its popularity in an effort to bring cryptocurrencies to the everyday transactions of the average Brazilian.

PicPay is looking to explore the possibilities of Web3 and blockchain

In an official announcement published on its official blog site in the late hours of 11 July, PicPay revealed that it would be giving its 60 million users the opportunity to buy and store cryptocurrencies, take crypto investment lessons, and even use crypto to pay for anything, anywhere; with all of the aforementioned being carried out directly on the app.

PicPay is launching this feature because it believes cryptocurrencies are more than just investments. “It [crypto] is a way to decentralize and facilitate payments and financial services in general. We want to be the company that will popularize crypto to actually put it in people’s daily lives,” says the publication.

The company is looking to explore the possibilities of Web3 and blockchain technology as a means to simplify payments for the local Brazilian community and unlock new business opportunities. “We have strong growth plans for it [crypto],” said Anderson Chamon, co-founder of PicPay, “with the hiring of new talent that works in both crypto and Web3.”

Besides day-to-day payments, PicPay reveals that its new crypto feature would give users the opportunity to use digital assets for “many other financial opportunities,” with a novel form of the personal loan being one of them.

PicPay will be launching the BRC – a stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian Real

Addressing the Crypto Winter, the firm noted that macroeconomic policies have had some damaging effects on the crypto markets, but this has also been the case with other financial markets like the stock market. The firm says the crypto winter is not much of a bother, as it believes the markets will bounce back.

PicPay has mentioned that the app will support Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Pax Dollar (USDP). Additionally, the firm is looking to launch its own stablecoin called the Brazilian Real Coin (BRC) which it says users can make payments with when inclined, assuring that the BRC will be pegged to the Brazilian Real in a 1:1 ratio. 

PicPay was founded in 2012 by Anderson Chamon, Dárcio Stehling and Diego Roberte. The platform aims to make everyday payments simpler and more convenient for the average Brazilian and beyond. It wouldn’t be the first payments app to delve into the crypto space, as payments giants such as PayPal and CashApp among others have integrated crypto payments.