As bitcoin soars, luxury brands consider accepting 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 into fresh pockets of wealth and build loyalty with crypto investors.

Until recently, only a handful of luxury brands including LVMH 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 ST Dupont told Reuters it aims to accept cryptocurrency payments in two Paris stores before the holidays.