Gucci to Accept Crypto Payments in Select U.S. Stores

Italian luxury brand Gucci will soon allow its customers to make payments using cryptocurrency in select stores across the United States, Vogue Business reported on 4 May.

According to the publication, the high-end fashion label is planning to roll out the crypto payment feature by the end of the month in five of its flagship stores in the U.S., namely those in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. Gucci will accept 12 different crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and five different stablecoins tied to the U.S. dollar. The president and CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri, said in a statement:

“Gucci is always looking to embrace new technologies when they can provide an enhanced experience for our customers. Now that we are able to integrate cryptocurrencies within our payment system, it is a natural evolution for those customers who would like to have this option available to them.”

Although the crypto payment feature will be available in only five stores at the start, Gucci plans to extend this service to all of its 111 stores in North America. According to Vogue, Gucci employees have already started taking training and education classes on cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and Web3 in general. Once a customer has decided to pay with crypto, they will receive an email containing a QR code enabling them to pay via their digital wallet.

This is not Gucci’s first foray into the crypto world though, with the luxury brand having released two NFT collection this year alone, the “SUPERGUCCI” collection in February and the “Gucci Grail” collection in March. The first-ever NFT the brand produced was a four-minute film called “Aria“, which was inspired from its Aria clothing collection. The luxury brand has also purchased land in The Sandbox game in February, which it means to develop into a virtual retail experience.