Equinox Group, one of the most popular luxury health and fitness clubs in the United States, is now permitting its members to pay for their membership subscriptions in cryptocurrencies.
While ranking as the very first gym centre to accept Bitcoin, it is not the first luxury brand to lend support to the nascent asset class in North America.
Equinox Group has partnered with crypto payments service provider, BitPay for the service, and per the new push, crypto owners can largely take advantage of the new payment model through the digital assets that BitPay is supporting.
“More than ever, consumers are making luxury purchases through cryptocurrency, and offering cryptocurrency as a form of payment enables Equinox to continue to meet their community where they are,” the company said in a statement.
It is not uncommon to find businesses now accepting Bitcoin and stablecoins as a means of payment as the demand for these digital currencies is going mainstream. More than ever, a higher number of individuals now hold crypto, and many are exploring avenues to spend their digital assets.
By permitting users to pay in cryptocurrencies, Equinox Group will be setting a precedent that may be emulated by a number of other players in the fitness industry. Equinox has as many as 35 clubs in New York City, with over 100 scattered across the country. Subscriptions on a monthly basis can be as high as $250.
Luxury auto brand Tesla Inc also supports Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles. While the company, under the leadership of Elon Musk has halted this service citing the coin’s environmental unfriendliness, Tesla has shone its radar on Dogecoin (DOGE) which it accepts as a means of payment for Tesla merchandise.
While companies are notably adopting crypto payments, a select number are backtracking on their decisions to accept cryptocurrencies with Wikipedia being the latest of these firms.
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