Farfetch Accepts Bitcoin for Online Purchases – The Cryptonomist
Farfetch is a well-known British online platform for fashion, luxury and design online sales.
It is a giant in its specific field, with 14 branches around the world and more than 5,400 employees. The site consistently outperforms 30 million monthly visitswith sales of more than $4 billion by 2021.
Since 2018, it has also been listed on the NYSE in New York with the ticker FTCH, and a current market capitalization of nearly $3.4 billion.
Farfetch implements Bitcoin in its payment system
Yesterday the company officially announced that it has started offering its customers the opportunity to pay in cryptocurrencies in 37 countries.
Initially, they will only accept six cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and USDC, but it is possible that more will be added later. To pay in cryptocurrencies, it will be sufficient to scan the relevant QR code displayed on the screen at the time of payment with the wallet. The payment gateway used is TripleA.
Farfetch Platform Solutions will also offer cryptocurrency payment options for the luxury brand’s customers with the upcoming launch of Stadium Goods.
To avoid having to do like Tesla, which first enabled payments in Bitcoin and then took them away ostensibly because of their environmental impact, Farfetch has joined the Crypto Climate Accord (CCA). This is an initiative inspired by the Paris Climate Agreement, and focused on decarbonizing the crypto and blockchain industry.
The aim of CCA is to support the crypto sector transition to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Farfetch Chief Marketplace Officer Edward Sabbagh so:
“Innovation is at the core of our business and we are constantly looking to implement new technologies that provide an enhanced shopping experience for our customers. We are pleased to offer cryptocurrency as a payment option for customers shopping on the FARFETCH Marketplace. Customers are increasingly interested in new payment methods, and cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly important with luxury customers.”
NFTs and the luxury sector
In reality, it is not only cryptocurrencies that are spreading in the luxury sector, and especially in the fashion sector, but also NFTs.
Indeed, as of 2020, they seem to have surpassed all other sectors overall in terms of the number of brands launching NFTs.
This was revealed in a recent study by CoinGecko, according to which as many as 19 brands in the luxury and fashion sector have launched NFTs during this period.
In second place came the media sector with just over half.
The study only looked at “traditional” brands in the US and Europe, classifying them according to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).
A total of 52 such brands were found to have issued NFTs since 2020, and of these, as many as 36% came from the apparel and luxury goods sector. First in terms of trading volume is Adidas, with its “Adidas Originals into the Metaverse” collection, which generates a volume of around 47,000 ETH. It is followed by Nike, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci.
In addition, there are sectors, such as healthcare, construction, utilities and real estate, where there are no major brands that have issued NFTs.
CoinGecko co-founder and COO Bobby Ong commented:
“Despite the current bear market conditions, many of these ‘traditional’ companies are leveraging NFTs in their branding and marketing efforts, as a way to engage the public and communities.
It will be interesting to see how this trend holds up next year – and whether brands in industries outside of this list unlock NFTs in their marketing strategies.”
