Virgil Abloh’s Off-White Now Accepts Bitcoin, Ether, XRP

Contemporary luxury brand Off-White now accepts cryptocurrencies for its products.

According to a report by Vogue Business, Off-White will start accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), XRP, USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT) in its London, Milan, and Paris flagship stores. The brand further announced that they would not place limits on how much customers may pay using the said cryptocurrencies, but would conduct prior fraud checks.

Off-White is an Italian luxury fashion brand founded in 2012 by the late American designer Virgil Abloh. Last year, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, the world’s second-largest luxury goods corporation, bought a 60% stake in Off-White in its wider plan to boost its market share in a world full of a rival roster of brands.

The move to accept crypto is in line with Abloh’s legacy of promoting youth culture and innovation, as well as an attempt to woo Gen-Z consumers who see various fashion pieces, especially sneakers as alternative assets to invest in, the Thursday announcement read. 

“This is another important step in the growth of the brand, that looks towards the future including Web 3.0 technologies, understanding the needs and desires of its ever-evolving customer base.”

In an attempt to reach the masses, especially the youth, the firm has been making inroads into various platforms including making a TikTok debut to stream its shows in February through Tiktok’s new multi-streaming technology.

Luxury watchmaker Hublot, which operates as a subsidiary under LMVH, and Italian luxury streetwear brand Philipp Plein also started accepting cryptocurrency payments in February 2022 and August 2021 respectively. Plein, which had recently told Vogue that it completes at least one crypto transaction per day has amassed over 150 Bitcoin since debuting the payment option.

Other brands behind the crypto wave include Richemont and Prada after joining LMVH’s blockchain group, the ‘Aura Blockchain Consortium’ which allows shoppers to authenticate goods as well as track the origin of their purchases. Last year, sneaker giant Adidas also officially stepped into the crypto world after entering into a partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase, days after joining the sandbox metaverse with its Adidas real estate.

That said, although there are still risks in accepting cryptocurrencies for various fashion luxury brands, more so due to the volatility involved, firms are already devising ways to avoid getting caught up in losses when there is wild volatility.