Digital currency is making its way into the luxury watch market.
If it was feasible, just about everyone in the U.S. would don a luxury watch, but they are often quite expensive for the average consumer. That could soon change, however, as the popular digital currency, Bitcoin, is now an option for online consumers.
“The Bitcoin market is booming in the USA and in Asia, near up 1000% year-over-year, and as one of the USA’s top retailers of authentic luxury watches such as Rolex and Cartier, we wanted to provide more payment options to our customers,” said a spokesperson for JavyEstrella. “Also, due to the rapid increase in price we felt many customers may want to take advantage of those gains by giving back to their friends and loved ones … by buying them an authentic Rolex watch for only 10% of the Bitcoin as it would have cost them 12 months ago due to the dramatic surge in Bitcoin value this year.”
Luxury watches like the Datejust Rolex, which was released in 1945 as part of Rolex’s 40th anniversary celebration, are popular within high-end collecting communities and among stylish millennials alike.
Though many buyers and sellers in the luxury watch market are excited about Bitcoin payments, according to The New York Times, there are also plenty of skeptics.
“Unregulated, unregistered exchanges are a very big concern for the industry and the community broadly,” said Kathryn Haun, former federal prosecutor and current board member of Coinbase, an American virtual currency company.
Bitcoin, like any company, is extremely susceptible to hackers, and they are dealing directly with millions of dollars. In 2015, for example, a hacker made off with 1,500 Bitcoin ($400,000 USD) and after other hackers saw how easy that theft was, another hacker walked away with almost 120,000 Bitcoin in 2016, which was worth about $75 million.
As long as e-commerce sites, watch buyers and sellers, and average consumers are extremely careful with every move they make within the digital environment, they should be fine. But it’s important to be overly cautious when this much money is involved.
