Gucci the latest luxury brand to accept crypto payments in store

Published at: May 5, 2022

The Italian high-end fashion label Gucci has announced it will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments by the end of the month in five of its United States stores, with plans to extend the service to all of its 111 stores in North America.

Gucci will accept 12 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and five U.S. dollar stablecoins, according to Vogue Business.

Customers paying with crypto in-store at the pilot locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas will be sent an email with a QR code to pay via their digital asset wallet. Employees have started to undertake training and education on crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3 in preparation for the launch.

Gucci has recently been on a Web3 adoption spree with two NFT collections launched in 2022 — the “SUPERGUCCI” collection in February in collaboration with toy brand SUPERPLASTIC, and the “Gucci Grail” collection in March targeting owners of existing blue-chip NFT projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins and World of Women.

Its first-ever NFT was a four-minute film titled Aria that took inspiration from its clothing collection of the same name that sold for $25,000 in June 2021 in an online auction hosted by Christie’s.

Gucci has further expanded into Web3 through its purchase of virtual land in The Sandbox in February to develop a virtual retail experience mirroring its Vault e-store.

Believe in the power of imagination, @gucci #GucciVault pic.twitter.com/NnHtF7kqk1

— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) February 9, 2022

The Gucci Vault is an online concept store representing “Gucci’s presence in the Metaverse,” featuring a curated selection by its creative director of rare vintage Gucci pieces.

​​Related: Is there a future for digital fashion in the Metaverse?

Crypto is luxury

High-end brands have been jumping into the crypto and Web3 space. In March, the fashion label Off-white started accepting payment with six cryptos in its flagship stores in Paris, Milan and London.

Off-white is majority-owned by LVMH, which has seen its share of Web3 adoption, releasing NFTs under its Hennessy, Bulgari and Louis Vuitton brands in the past.

LVMH’s luxury watch brand Hublot released a limited edition collection that could only be purchased using Bitcoin. More recently, the brand partnered with cold wallet provider Ledger to launch a limited edition watch and Ledger Nano X in February.

Watch brands Franck Muller and Norgain, along with fashion label Phillipp Plein, all accept crypto, and even car dealerships and car manufacturers are accepting digital assets for high-end vehicles.

The luxury fitness company Equinox Group started accepting crypto payments for its New York City-based clubs on Tuesday, with yearly memberships starting just under 1.4 ETH, or $4,044 at the time of writing.

Tags
Adoption
United States
Tokens
Payments
Web3
Metaverse
Bitcoin Payments
Sandbox
Related Posts
Pride in the Metaverse: Blockchain tech creates new opportunities for LGBTQ+ people
A number of social gatherings have started to take place in the Metaverse as companies across the globe begin to understand the value that virtual interactive environments can have for consumers. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that Pride Month — a month-long celebration held in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots — will be celebrated in various metaverse environments this year. Pride in the Metaverse creates open access Akbar Hamid, co-founder of People of Crypto Lab (POC) — an innovation hub dedicated to increasing diversity and representation in Web3 — told Cointelegraph that the Metaverse is an …
Adoption / June 2, 2022
Wharton accepts crypto payments for blockchain program tuition fees
Crypto adoption scores another win with the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, but there’s a catch. The Wharton School, one of the premier business schools in the United States, will accept Bitcoin (BTC) and other forms of cryptocurrencies for tuition fees, Bloomberg reports. However, the adoption is limited to its new online blockchain and digital assets program scheduled to start in January. Titled Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets, the six-week program costs $3,800, and the university expects to attract thousands of students each year. The Wharton School will use Coinbase Commerce, the e-commerce platform of the United States-based crypto …
Adoption / Oct. 28, 2021
Taco tokens: Chipotle adds crypto payments via Flexa
The popular Mexican fast-food chain Chipotle is now accepting cryptocurrency payments through digital payment provider Flexa at all of its over 2,950 United States-based restaurants. Flexa announced the partnership on Wednesday which will see Chipotle accept all the 98 cryptocurrencies Flexa currently supports including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and seven U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC). Chipotle’s website does not contain any information on the announcement, however. Bitcoin, but make it **burritos.** We’re delighted to share that @ChipotleTweets is now accepting payments in #bitcoin, #ether, #dogecoin, and more, exclusively through Flexa. https://t.co/W0ktwPX7i3 — Flexa (@FlexaHQ) June 1, 2022 The …
Adoption / June 2, 2022
The Metaverse is becoming a platform to unite fashion communities
A recent report from technology research and advisory firm Technavio predicts that the Metaverse will hit a market share value of $50.37 billion by the year 2026. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the trillion-dollar fashion industry has started taking a major interest in the Metaverse. While most luxury labels and brands remain focused on creating nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to replicate physical items, a handful of projects have started bringing their communities into the Metaverse. For example, on Sept. 5, Vogue Singapore launched a fashion-first Web3 community known as “Vogue Singapore’s New World.” While Vogue Singapore has previously …
Adoption / Sept. 19, 2022
Using blockchain technology to combat retail theft
The retail industry is one of the most important sectors of the United States economy. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has left the trillion-dollar retail sector vulnerable to in-store theft. Findings from the National Retail Federation’s 2022 Retail Security Survey show that retail losses from stolen goods increased to $94.5 billion in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020. Some retailers also have to lock away certain products to prevent theft, which may lead to decreased sales due to consumers’ inability to access goods. Retailers look toward blockchain to solve retail theft Given these extreme measures, many innovative retailers have started …
Adoption / Jan. 7, 2023