Luxury brands are getting ready to accept crypto payments

Bitcoin’s soaring value has caught the attention of high-end fashion brands and retailers, prompting further interest in offering cryptocurrencies as a means of payment to tap in to fresh pockets of wealth and build loyalty with crypto investors.

Until recently, only a handful of luxury brands including LVMH (LVMH.PA), watch labels Hublot and Tag Heuer as well as Kering-owned fashion brands Gucci and Balenciaga have experimented with crypto payment offers.

In recent weeks, upscale French luxury department store Printemps announced it was teaming up with the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, and French financial tech company Lyzi to accept cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ethereum in its stores in France - becoming the first European department store to do so. The move, coming as bitcoin rises, has been noticed by other brands and retailers who are showing interest in joining in.

"There have been quite a few calls - it's generated interest," said David Princay, president of Binance France, who said the company is in talks with other luxury labels.

Luxury lighter and pen maker S.T. Dupont told Reuters it aims to accept cryptocurrency payments in two Paris stores before the holidays.

In the realm of experiences, cruise company Virgin Voyages began this month offering its first product accepting bitcoin as a payment option - a $120,000 annual pass for up to a year of sailing on its cruise ships.

Regulators have long warned that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are high-risk assets, with limited uses in the real world. High volatility has been another barrier to wide adoption as a means of payment.

But pledges of support from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to bring in more friendly e-currency regulation, have fueled record-breaking rises for bitcoin.

S&P analysts say the narrative is starting to shift, noting that blockchain innovation in financial markets could increase predictability for cryptocurrencies.