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Bitcoin has been on a dream run since Donald Trump was elected the next U.S. president, driving the cryptocurrency to record highs day after day. The big rally has piqued the interest of luxury brands, who are now looking to offer crypto as a form of payment.
The price of Bitcoin crossed the $100,000 mark earlier this month and is on an upward trajectory to $110,000 in anticipation of Trump’s pro-crypto policies.
Niche luxury companies, such as French pen-maker S.T. Dupont, are moving fast to offer crypto payments in two of its Paris stores before the holidays, Reuters reported. Printemps, a French department store, will soon accept the digital currency as payment.
The head of Binance France, the French unit of the world’s largest crypto exchange, acknowledged that there was more interest overall, including from luxury players.
"We're delighted to see the luxury sector embracing cryptocurrency payments, as demonstrated by our recent partnership with Printemps in France,” a Binance spokesperson told Fortune. “This initiative has generated significant interest, and we're already in talks with other luxury brands eager to integrate cryptocurrency payments.”
Binance has joined hands with Groupe LG, an automotive dealership, to help customers buy branded and vintage vehicles via cryptocurrency.
This points to a growing acceptance of the digital asset as a mode of payment despite skeptics and regulators pushing back on it.
“While we cannot comment on specific companies or sectors choosing to engage with crypto as a payment option, we are gratified by the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency across diverse industries,” a Coinbase spokesperson told Fortune.
Past rallies have rushed luxury majors to allow cryptocurrency payments. For instance, Gucci, LVMH-owned Tag Heuer, and Burberry have offered crypto payments since 2022, following a surge in the asset’s value through 2021. It was around then that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) started to become more mainstream, with Tesla buying the digital currency and El Salvador making it legal tender.
When Kering-owned Gucci and Balenciaga announced two years ago that they would accept crypto payments, it was clear that high-end brands wanted to reach customers through an increasingly lucrative avenue. Gucci stores, for instance, offered a simple QR code scan-and-pay option in New York, Los Angeles, and other high-profile locations.
More the merrier
As select brands adopted crypto payments, luxury marketplaces also joined forces. Farfetch, an e-commerce platform that sells products from 1,400 brands, green-lit crypto payments in 37 countries just as the top-end brands began jumping on the crypto ship.