Key Takeaways
- Gucci now accepts ApeCoin in some stores across the United States.
- Payments will be facilitated by the crypto payments provider BitPay.
- The news comes days after another luxury brand, Tiffany & Co., announced it would drop a collection of 250 NFTs redeemable for custom-made CryptoPunks-themed jewelry.
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Gucci added ApeCoin to its list of accepted crypto payments today, marking another step in the luxury brand’s exploration of the crypto ecosystem.
Yuga Labs Meets Luxury Brands
Gucci is doubling down on Web3.
The high fashion brand announced on Twitter today that it had started accepting ApeCoin payments via BitPay in select boutiques across the United States. It comes after Gucci declared in early May that it would authorize cryptocurrency payments in select stores in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas; the list of accepted coins included Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and multiple stablecoins.
ApeCoin is the governance and utility token for ApeCoin DAO, which is tied to Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club-affiliated Otherside ecosystem. Bored Ape Yacht Club became the world’s top NFT collection during a boom in the market it 2021; it has been paraded on television and social media by celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Stephen Curry, and Jimmy Fallon. The collection’s ape-themed NFTs minted for around $200 and currently have a floor price of around 84 ETH, the equivalent of about $135,000. Gucci called the ApeCoin addition “another step in the House’s exploration of Web3,” following various endeavors in the NFT space, including collaborations with 10KTF, SUPERPLASTIC, and SuperRare.
The Gucci announcement follows hot on the heels of Tiffany & Co.’s Sunday announcement that it would drop a collection of handcrafted pendants modeled on CryptoPunks, another iconic NFT collection owned by Yuga Labs. For 30 ETH (around $48,600 at today’s prices), CryptoPunk holders will be able to get a replica of their NFT made of “at least” 30 diamonds or gemstones, and the piece will hang from a gold chain with additional diamonds on the clasp. The luxury brand’s collection will be released in an edition of 250 “NFTiffs,” NFTs redeemable for one of the CryptoPunk-themed pendants. It goes on sale this Friday.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
