Italian high-tech fashion giant Gucci has become the first major brand to accept Bored Ape Yacht Club ApeCoin (APE) payments.
The move was announced on August 1st and could give the ApeCoin project significant mainstream exposure and further utility for the cryptocurrency.
Gucci customers in the United States (US) will now be able to purchase products in-store with APE, while the payment infrastructure will be provided by BitPay, a company that has helped big names like AMC Theaters accept crypto payments in the past.
I am excited to announce it @Gucci will become the first major brand to allow customers to pay for in-store purchases with ApeCoin, via @BitPay. https://t.co/ipoeW6lXLl
— ApeCoin (@apecoin) August 2, 2022
Despite the ongoing crypto market, the fashion brand has taken a serious dive into the cryptocurrency space this year.
Back in February, Gucci kicked things off with the NFT “SUPERGUCCI” collection in collaboration with toy brand X SUPERPLASTIC. Next month, Gucci then rolling from the “Gucci Grail” NFT Collection which was aimed at the owners of top NFT projects like BAYC.
In May, the company then announced plans to accept 12 crypto assets as payment methods at 111 stores in North America. The list included Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and five US dollar stablecoins.
BAYC collectors seem to have shown strong support for Gucci’s crypto moves so far, with @NBATopShotEast claiming to be the first person to pay for Gucci items in ETH at the brand’s Wooster, New York location in July. While two other BAYC members claimed to be the second and third person to do so.
In response to APE’s most recent announcement, @NBATopShotEast outlined plans to once again be the first person to use the asset at the Wooster Gucci store.
Lucky to be Guccis first crypto user in store… hope to be first Apecoin user in store too https://t.co/mNdG9oSJPi
— NBA Top Shot East Coast Podcast (@NBAtopShotEast) August 2, 2022
The Apecoin Community
APE launched with much anticipation earlier this year in March. The accompanying decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and its governance community have since remained highly engaged and have overseen major decisions, such as vetoing a proposal to move APE from Ethereum to a new blockchain in June.
Last month, the DAO voted in favor of several notable proposals, such as studying the feasibility of hosting an NFT conference and festival and providing APE funding to make BoredApeGazette a 24-hour news site. While the project is working on developing the APE stake in response to a strong push from the community.
ApeCoin fam – we hear you on the staking. It’s important and something we want to get right. We are currently finalizing details that will serve as the basis for a broader update on our progress under AIPs-21&22. Expect more frequent updates and collaboration soon. pic.twitter.com/jKi8fZuaqd
— ApeCoin (@apecoin) July 22, 2022
At the time of writing, APE is priced at $6.74 after pumping 11.4% over the past seven days. APE has seen a strong resurgence of late, partly due to positive developments in the related Otherside Metaverse project, with the price rising 49.1% in the past month.
Related: Tiffany & Co Turns CryptoPunk NFTs Into $50,000 Custom Lockets
Its current market capitalization of $2.06 billion makes APE the thirty-third largest asset in crypto, however, APE is still down 74.8% from its all-time high of $26.70 on the 28 April.
