A Silicon Valley jeweler is embracing a technology that’s taking his area and the world by storm.
Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry has partnered up with international payment platform GoCoin to accept bitcoin, litecoin, and dogecoin payments at its new retail store located at the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel in Menlo Park.
The boutique is located on Sand Hill Road, which is home to prominent venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
According to today’s announcement, “the new 950 square-foot boutique will reflect the tech savvy of its clientele, featuring some of the finest timepieces of haute horology from Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, HYT, Ulysse Nardin, Arnold & Son, Ressence, Laurent Ferrier, and Devon. The space will welcome guests with video walls, a state-of-the-art sound system, and innovative payment alternatives.”
Stephen Silver, CEO of S.H. Silver Company, said, “We’ve operated in the Bay Area for more than three decades and most of our clients are VCs and in the technology industry, so we’ve naturally become early adopters.” He adds, “GoCoin really appealed to us because they had the foresight to process multiple cryptocurrencies from the outset, which allows us to capture a much broader customer base.”
“It’s exciting to see Silicon Valley’s de facto jewelry house so openly embrace innovation,” says Steve Beauregard, head honcho at GoCoin. “Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry already deals with portable wealth in the form of precious gems, so allowing high net-worth customers to pay with the most portable form of money was a natural extension.”
Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry is now one of several jewelers in the United States turning to the digital currency as a means to accept payments with minimal fees and risk of charge backs.
Two similar announcements were made last month in June. First, a large US-based jewelry store, REEDS, announced they’d be accepting bitcoin. Eight days later, a 104-year-old jewelry store announced they too would be accepting bitcoin.
Bitcoin acceptance is especially useful for international buyers, who need not deal with potentially costly currency conversions.