French fashion brand Balenciaga accepts payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum

The high-fashion brand is also quietly developing a long-term metaverse business strategy.

Crypto is one step closer to becoming a mainstream means of payment – ​​if you consider paying $1,250 for a hoodie that has been mercilessly ravaged as “mainstream”.

Starting next month, fashion house Balenciga will accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as online payment methods. It will also test it at key stores on Madison Avenue in New York and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

The move makes Balenciaga the latest legacy fashion brand to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method. Earlier this month, Gucci made a similar announcement. Gucci Now Accepts Crypto Payments Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

Recently Balenciaga announced the launch of the NFT . collection “Cristóbal Balenciaga: To the Moon” on the market Crypto.com NFT. The French fashion giant’s current crypto payment plan initially only accepts Bitcoin or Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. However, the company also plans to expand the program to other currencies in the near future.

The link between the high-end fashion house and Web3 is getting stronger and stronger. Just the last year has seen many major brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry, launch NFT collections and open the entrance to the metaverse. Brands all seem to agree that digital fashion is a promising business opportunity.

In December, Balenciaga announced the creation of an internal metaverse business unit. Cedric Charbitthe firm’s CEO, declined to disclose anything to the WSJ about the unit’s long-term plans or strategy.

The amount of Bitcoin used to buy a Balenciaga hoodie worth 1250 USD in November will be valid no come 563 USD today. But the turbulence of the crypto market did not affect the brand’s leadership decisions. When asked if the recent market crash has affected Balenciaga’s position on crypto, Charbit only replied that his thinking is “long-term.”