Elain Brown Tech 05.05.2022 19:May PM EDT

Italian Fashion Brand Gucci Now Accepts Cryptocurrency for Payment

Gucci now accepts cryptocurrency for payment, joining Off-White as one of the globally leading fashion brands that accept crypto as payment.

For the time being, the Italian brand's payment feature will be limited to a few select stores. However, the addition of the crypto payment option comes with the brand's plan to expand the service to its directly-operated North American stores soon.

According to Bloomberg, Gucci has begun implementing the cryptocurrency payment mechanism in its flagship stores across the country, including those on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, Wooster Street in New York, and the Las Vegas Fashion District.

There are more than 10 cryptocurrencies that it will accept as payment. These include five stable coins: Litecoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Wrapped Bitcoin.

It will also accept the very famous meme cryptocurrency coins, Shiba Inu and DogeCoin.

Gucci Joins Cryptocurrency Adaptation

Gucci is adapting early in the crypto payment revolution. This move allows it to infiltrate the vast community and industry of crypto.

As reported by Vogue Business, by summer, the brand aims to implement this payment system in their North American branches.

In-store cryptocurrency payments will be made using a link delivered to the customer through email; the link will contain a QR code that will allow them to complete the payment from their cryptocurrency wallet.

Several Gucci establishments, including those on Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, the Miami Design District, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas, were among the first to accept cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency payments are typically accepted in physical venues through the use of a QR code or NFC reader on an existing point of sale terminal that communicates with a customer's smartphone cryptocurrency app in a manner similar to that of mobile credit card transactions.

At the time of the transaction, it uses a terminal to find the best crypto-to-fiat exchange rate. It then scans a QR code that the customer's payment app sends. It doesn't have a limit on how much a customer can pay but only gives refunds in local currency. Gucci customers who use cryptocurrency to buy from Gucci will be able to get their money back in cryptocurrency.

The crypto payment system is designed like this to provide ease of transaction and also protection since some currencies are well known for being volatile.

Off-White's Cryptocurrency Adaptation

Aside from Gucci, another luxury fashion brand known for accepting crypto payments is Off-White. All three flagship stores of Off-White, which was founded by the late Virgil Abloh, have recently welcomed crypto to their stores.

A small number of other premium retail stores have begun experimenting with cryptocurrency payments. Off-White said in March that its flagship locations in Paris, London, and Milan have begun accepting payments in a variety of digital currencies.

Following fraud checks, customers will be able to trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP), and stable currencies Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) for Off-White products, with no payment limit following the launch of the service.