Brands cash-in on cryptocurrency

                        Brands cash-in on cryptocurrency

 

 Luxury brands Gucci and Balenciaga are the latest to join the cryptocurrency craze

         

                  

Italian luxury brand Gucci has announced that it will accept cryptocurrency payments. A few days later, another luxury brand, Balenciaga, announced the same. Both brands have started this business in several selected stores in the United States, and Gucci says it will soon roll out the same arrangement in all stores in North America. Despite the volatility and associated risks, brands are using new technologies to keep up with current technological developments.

It's all the rage right now, but cryptocurrencies have been here for quite some time. And Gucci wasn't the first to explore crypto payment options.

Proceed with caution

In 2014, before cryptocurrencies became such a fad, US technology giant Microsoft began accepting cryptocurrency payments. You can use Bitcoin to fund your Microsoft account and pay for various services.

His company was the first to jump into the wrath of cryptocurrencies, but Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates doesn't seem to be a fan. In one of his "Ask Me Anything" sessions on Reddit, billionaire technocrats added, "I don't own (cryptocurrency)." I like to invest in something of value. " "The value of cryptocurrency does not contribute to society like other investments, because it is what others decide to pay," he added. Less money than Elon Musk, that is, everyone should be "careful" when investing in these digital assets.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett has expressed a similar view. At Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting last month, he said that even if Bitcoin sells for $ 25, it doesn't buy all Bitcoin. What does it do with it? I have to sell it back to you in some way. It doesn't do anything, "Buffet added. Buffett explained his charm by saying, "There is something magical, and people are magical on many things."

Environment-capital conundrum

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk`s courting with the surroundings seems to be a complicated one. In March ultimate year, he introduced that Tesla, the electrical carmaker, might take delivery of bills in cryptocurrencies, simplest to back down months later amid the outcry with the aid of using environmental activists. Citing environmental concerns, Musk said, “We are worried approximately swiftly growing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, in particular coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.” Adding, he said, “cryptocurrency is a great idea… however this can not come at extraordinary fee to the surroundings.”

And rightly so, crypto mining consumes a massive quantity of computing electricity and subsequently energy, a whole lot of it sourced via reasonably-priced fossil fuels like coal. Also, on its website, Tesla says its “challenge is to boost up the world`s transition to sustainable energy. In pursuit of this goal, we construct merchandise that update a number of the planet`s largest polluters-at the same time as seeking to do the proper component alongside the way.”

However, in advance this year, Musk introduced that Tesla might take delivery of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that commenced as a social media joke, for its products merchandise.

Other Brands

The multinational coffee chain Starbucks also accepts cryptocurrency payments to replenish Starbucks cards through the Starbucks Loyalty Program. To do this, the customer scans the QR code at the counter and pays directly via the cryptocurrency wallet. Last year, multinational financial services company.

Visa also announced that it would accept cryptocurrencies to process transactions on its payment network. The company allows trading of US dollar coins (USDC), which are stablecoins whose value is fixed at the US dollar. Stablecoin is considered an alternative to highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Green Turn

 

Long before the crypto ecosystem exploded, Wikimedia, the non-profit organization that powers Wikipedia, began accepting  donations  in 2014. After a fierce debate among Wikipedia editors, the company stopped donating cryptocurrencies on environmental issues after  a request was sent to the organization. The company behind the Firefox web browser, 

Mozilla, also announced earlier this year that it would not accept "proof of work" cryptocurrencies such as the highly energy-consuming Bitcoin and Ethereum. For example, Ethereum's annual energy demand is comparable to that of the Netherlands and higher than that of the Philippines. Instead, Mozilla accepts proof of stake ciphers like Solana and Polkadot. These ciphers only allow  a small number of miners, so they require less power.

 

 Aside from its environmental impact, cryptocurrencies are notorious for their associated volatility, as evidenced by the collapse of the stablecoin terraUSD (UST),  which has disturbed the entire crypto market. Nevertheless, brands do not seem to be afraid to take risks and are taking advantage of the cryptocurrency epidemic.