Italian luxury clothing brand Gucci became the first major mainstream brand to accept cryptocurrency after it allowed its customers to pay in Bored Ape Yacht Club APE Coin for their retail transactions.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club’s APE crypto token was launched about five months ago. The coin opened for trading at $7.3 on March 17, 2022. But despite its hyped launch, it could not sustain its opening price. On August 10, it was trading at $6.84, according to Coinmarketcap.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs are hugely popular. Some of the NFTs sell for as high as $1,00,000. Bored Ape Yacht is also planning to launch an APE-themed metaverse, currently under trial.
Animoca Brands, the creator of the Sandbox (SAND) metaverse, has recently announced that it will accept the APE coin for its Benji Bananas play-to-earn blockchain game.
Now Pay In Cryptos For Your Designer Gucci Dress, Starbucks Coffee, Movie Tickets And More
You can now pay for your next luxury Gucci dress using the Bored Ape Yacht crypto coin APE. But did you know, at one point, you could also have bought a KFC chicken bucket and coffee at Starbucks using Bitcoin.
However, APE coin supply is restricted. During its launch, it stated that it would have one billion tokens in supply and no minting or crypto burning would be allowed.
Here Are Some Other Companies That Accept Crypto Payments
Miami-Based Property Developer E11EVEN Residences
Miami-based property developer E11EVEN Residences announced on March 17 that it will start accepting APE coins for purchasing condo units.
Elon Musk’s Tesla And Starlink
In June 2021, Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc.’s announcement to accept Bitcoin (BTC) made big headlines. However, the joy was short-lived after Musk reversed that decision over serious environmental concerns about BTC mining.
However, both Tesla and Starlink accept the Dogecoin (DOGE) crypto for select purchases.
AMC Theatres
In March 2022, theatre chain AMC partnered up with payment solutions provider Bitpay to start accepting Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) payments for movie tickets.
Dallas Mavericks
Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the basketball (NBA) club Dallas Mavericks, said that sometimes businesses have to do things that are fun and engaging for fans and consumers.
Hence, they support a wide array of cryptos, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and others. Like AMC theatres, Dallas Mavericks too uses Bitpay as its crypto payment processor.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
For a limited time in 2018, KFC Canada decided to cash in on the Bitcoin hype by launching a Bitcoin KFC bucket.
“Despite the ups and downs of bitcoin, the Colonel’s Original Recipe is as good as always. So, trade your bitcoins for buckets and invest in something finger lickin’ good,” KFC Canada’s website read at that time, reported Triplem.com.
Starbucks
Starbucks has partnered up with crypto company Bakkt to accept Bitcoin payments.
“Bought coffee at Starbucks with #bitcoin and it worked flawlessly. It’s quite impressive how quickly this has happened. Would love to know whether they are holding any #bitcoin and what Seattle makes of all this,” Tweeted a Starbucks user on Sept 10, 2021.
AT&T Telecom Service
In 2019, American telecom service provider, AT&T partnered up with Bitpay to accept Bitcoin payments.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve and expand our services. We have customers who use cryptocurrency, and we are happy we can offer them a way to pay their bills with the method they prefer,” said Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT&T Communications, finance business operations, in a press release.