Luxury watchmaker Breitling now accepts bitcoin payments.
The Swiss watch manufacturer teamed up with cryptocurrency payment services provider BitPay to enable the new payment method in its online store.
“Luxury watch brand, @Breitling now accepts crypto! Welcome to #BitPay, we are excited to partner with you to bring new payment options to your customers,” BitPay tweeted Tuesday morning.
Born in 1884 in the midst of a recession in Switzerland, Breitling’s first atelier was opened at Place Neuve 1, Saint-Imier by 24-year-old L?on Breitling. Since then, it has established itself as one of the most popular watchmakers in the country. In 2017, the brand was sold to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Now, customers interested in acquiring Breitling watches can do so with bitcoin, both on-chain and on Lightning, through BitPay’s integration in the manufacturer’s website.
Breitling joins a plethora of luxury brands jumping on the Bitcoin bandwagon in recent months as the game theoretic aspect of bitcoin adoption begins playing out.
Luxury e-commerce Farfetch, fashion brands Gucci and Balenciaga, and with watchmakers TAG Heuer and Hublot have this year announced they added bitcoin as a payment option.
In addition to the fashion industry, the car industry has also seen an uptick in bitcoin being accepted as payment – though one player is betting on allowing customers to use their bitcoin for purchases without needing to sell their holdings. Houston-based Post Oak Motor Cars integrated Bitcoin services natively through NYDIG last year, enabling customers to purchase luxury automobiles through bitcoin-backed loans.
As the Bitcoin ecosystem evolves and adoption increases in spite of price, renowned brands are set to capitalize on that exponential growth of the network with offerings catered to Bitcoin users. The more the industry matures, the more opportunities can be offered to consumers and the more value can be accrued to brands and merchants.