Italian fashion brand Gucci has announced that it has started accepting ApeCoin (APE) as one of the payment options.
According to the company, the addition of ApeCoin was made possible with the aid of its crypto payments partner, BitPay. The service is only available to select stores in the United States now.
ApeCoin is the native token of the Yuga Labs-created Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ecosystem. The ecosystem encompasses some of the industry’s most iconic non-fungible tokens like the Bored Apes and also includes Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), CryptoPunks, and Meebits, both of which were acquired by Yuga Labs earlier this year.
The ApeCoin was launched as a way to help holders of either of these NFTs with additional utilities.
The addition of the ApeCoin token also represents a milestone for Gucci as it seeks to double down on its Web3.0 mission.
Back in May, Gucci announced that it is making a move to accept digital currencies for in-house purchases, which will encompass the likes of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and five dollar-pegged stablecoins.
“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,” Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci, said in a statement at the time.
Other top fashion brands are also making their moves into Web3.0 with prominent names, including Lacoste, Dolce & Gabbana, and Salvatore Ferragamo. While the pace of Web3.0 adoption is different, each company has its own defined modalities, each following its individual timelines.
The world-renowned luxury brand Gucci will accept cryptocurrency payments by the end of this month and plans to roll it out to direct-operated North American stores this summer, according to Vogue Business.
There are currently only five stores in the pilot, in Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, the Miami Design District, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta and the Crystals store in Las Vegas.
Encrypted payments will be emailed to customers by Gucci with a link containing a QR code, and users can use their encrypted wallet to scan the QR code for consumption payments.
Currently, Gucci will accept Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and five dollar-pegged stablecoins.
Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci said that:
“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.”
More brands have been increasingly testing blockchain technologies.
Leading Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana sold a nine-piece collection of fashion NFTs dubbed Collezione Genesi or the Genesis Collection for a whopping $6 million.
Gucci and many other luxury fashion brands are reportedly about to launch their NFT assets.
NFTs in the Fashion Industry
Thanks to NFT’s (otherwise known as the “non-fungible tokens”), which are authenticated and minted by blockchain technology, you can transform the intangible intoa tangible benefit.
A virtual archive that codifies an accessible record of each operation is built into the blockchain (like purchasing a pair of Rtfkt and Fewocious sneakers). The record cannot later be altered, which means that the transaction backed by a blockchain is verifiable evidence of the price, validity, and ownership of a property.
Every new day brings a breathless tale to the new NFT sale, but the world of luxury fashion has stayed relatively calm. While trying to elevate, fashion brands tested the wild, the ambiguous blockchain world with all its imaginative and business opportunities.
According to a report recently made by Gucci to Vogue Business, it is only a matter of time before the brand releases its NFT. Vogue Business has also reported that many luxurious trend houses are close to launching NFTs with multiple industry sources.
Marjorie Hernandez, the founder ofLukso, a fashion brands blockchain network, said the question is who will first get the trigger off. Luxury brands are behind the eCommerce trend, and such an emerging technology like blockchain is more ready to explore.
“In the last few months, every fashion person I ever spoke to asked about what they could do in the NFT region. They can transform all the digital elements from art to music to mode into an exclusive NFT, a digital leader, or blockchain ownership. “
The Race to Create NFTs
Proponents suggest that NFTs are the potential evolution of digital fashion that luxury fashion brands have already adopted. They believe that NTFs can bring digital fashion closer to the fundamental mode by its scarcity and capacity to increase value.
NFT cases, particularly for fashion, are currently in their infancy.Cathy Hackl, CEO of Futures Intelligence Group company that advises brands on handling emerging technology and virtual products, says that right now the way fashion is marketed through NFT is fashion as art, not necessarily fashion as a utility. She added that they will finally reach the stage where there’s more usefulness, yet they’re not yet there.
NFTs cancel the issue on copycats and add value to all NFT-related physical goods. High fashion brands such as Gucci,Louis Vuitton,and Prada aim at an obsessed young resale market and thus benefit much from approaching NFTs.
It means that brands can now market NFTs and sell GIFs of parts of clothing. However, customers cannot do anything with them, including admiring the GIFs, and the current NFT user interface lacks the shine that luxury buyers desire.
Gucci and a host of other luxury fashion brands are weighing up releasing their own NFTs, Vogue Business has reported.
NFTs could be used to create digital fashion items and certificates of authenticity.
Despite the fashion industry’s interest in the space, some signs suggest the market is overextended.
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Gucci on Ethereum? According to reports, it may be happening soon.
Gucci Looking at NFTs
Gucci and several other luxury brands are considering launching NFTs, Vogue Business has reported.
A Gucci representative told the outlet that it’s “only a matter of time” before a brand such as theirs enters the NFT space. The report mentions “multiple industry sources” that have suggested other luxury fashion houses are preparing to launch their own NFTs.
Natalie Johnson, CEO of digital fashion startup Neuno, also told Vogue Business that the company is working with five luxury fashion brands. She said:
“We want to be the universal 3D wardrobe that plugs into everything. For example, imagine if somebody bought the iconic J Lo Versace dress on our site.”
Neuno appears to be targeting the NFT space; it will run on the Flow blockchain from Dapper Labs.
NFTs, otherwise known as “non-fungible tokens,” are digital assets that get tokenized on the blockchain. Mostly found on Ethereum, they can be used to verify the rarity and ownership of digital art, music, tweets, or another type of asset.
In games like Decentraland and Aavegotchi, NFTs represent rare clothing items, something the fashion world could adopt. They could also be used to create digital skins of popular brands and provide certificates of authenticity. For example, when someone buys a $5,000 Gucci handbag, they may also receive a token that verifies the item is a real Gucci piece.
NFT Market Shows Signs of Cooling
Despite the fashion industry’s reported interest in the space, several indicators suggest that the NFT market is overextended.
CryptoPunks, among the earliest and now most sought after NFTs, have seen a crash recently. Thefloor price for a punkhas fallen roughly 40% to around 15 ETH, about $30,937.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd, one of the world’s biggest pop artists, raised a relatively modest $2.29 million from his first NFT drop over the weekend. The most valuable piece, featuring a full unreleased song, sold for $490,000 and attracted few bids in the closing hours.
In another sign of a bursting bubble, a tokenized version of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” the most expensive piece of artwork ever created, is currently up for auction on OpenSea. Author Ben Lewis minted the piece, telling The Art Newspaper he planned to share the profits from the sale with the Hendry family, who sold the painting for $1,175 in 2005. He said his target price was $450 million, the same price “Salvator Mundi” sold for at Christie’s in 2017.
However, bidding is at only 0.23 ETH (under $500) with 19 hours to go.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
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