When Louis de Bonnecaze started diving into digital currencies in 2015, he saw a unique opportunity for the fine wine industry.
Acker, a 200-year-old wine merchant that saw record-breaking auction sales in 2020, recently announced that it will be accepting digital tokens for auction and retail purchases via BitPay, a payment service provider that helps convert digital currency to cash for merchants.
Acker president John Kapon says it felt like the right time to provide additional payment options that have become popular among Acker’s network of wine lovers.
That same year, Toronto-based auction house and retailer Iron Gate Wine became one of the first to accept crypto for its products.
“To me, it’s important to be first when the technology makes sense, and it did,” Porter said about initially accepting crypto.
Porter, who uses BitPay as well, explains that customers buy wine with their digital wallets and he receives the money in U.S.
“When we use wire transfer for international business, it takes three or four days to pay, but a Bitcoin payment is nearly instantaneous,” he says.
He says most of BTC Wine’s buyers are men between the ages of 25 and 45, and that people who have won big with Bitcoin investments are driving his sales of Bordeaux first-growths.
Returns, however, are potentially an issue, Porter says: Since he does not hold on to cryptocurrencies, he can only refund payments in U.S.
He also adds that in-store purchases can be slower, as customers must wait five to 10 minutes for the blockchain transaction to be validated.