Gucci accepting payments in ApeCoin?

Yesterday Gucci announced that it would begin accepting ApeCoin payments via BitPay. 

Gucci adds ApeCoin to the list of supported cryptocurrencies as a means of payment 

It did so with a tweet on its official profile, but shortly afterward the tweet was removed. 

Gucci has deleted a tweet announcing that they would accept ApeCoin payments ? pic.twitter.com/tba2EaFqq7

— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) August 2, 2022

However, the identical tweet was later reposted, so it is possible that the deletion occurred by mistake. 

Now accepting @ApeCoin payments via @BitPay, select Gucci boutiques in the USA expand the range ofcryptocurrencies available for in-store purchases, yet another step in the House’s exploration of Web3.

— gucci (@gucci) August 2, 2022

ApeCoin (APE) payments are made possible by the use of BitPay’s payment gateway, and were only enabled in select Gucci boutiques in the US where other cryptocurrencies were already being accepted. 

The official tweet comments by saying: 

“Another step in the House’s exploration of Web3”.

It is no coincidence that yesterday the price of the APE token, built on Ethereum’s blockchain, jumped 11%, although the day before it had fallen by a similar range, so by the end of the day it was actually back to the levels of the day before. 

Nonetheless, it shows a gain of 23% over the past seven days, and 54% over the past month, although it remains 74% below the all-time high of three months ago. 

Gucci has been embracing the crypto world for months now. 

In May, for example, it announced that it had begun accepting 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as a payment method in some US stores, while in June it announced a partnership with SuperRare for NFTs. The Maison, now owned by French giant Kering, has even created an internal team dedicated to Web3 initiatives. 

This time it will be the first global brand to use BitPay to accept ApeCoin payments. 

Brief history of ApeCoin

ApeCoin (APE) is the token of Yuga Labs, home of the popular NFT collection Bored Ape. It is the governance token used for ecosystem DAO, but is also used as a utility token. 

It was only launched in mid-March of this year, debuting in the crypto markets with a price tag of $8.5. In late April it peaked at $26.7, only to collapse below $3.5 in June. The current price of about $7 is still higher than the initial price.