Gucci jumps on the crypto bandwagon with U.S. project

(Reuters) - Gucci's high-end handbags and other luxury products can now be bought using cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, in some U.S. stores, the Italian company said, as digital currencies move to broader acceptance.

Starting later this month, customers can pay with crypto at some of Gucci's flagship stores, including Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and Wooster Street in New York, the company said.

Gucci, owned by France's Kering SA, plans to expand the service to its directly operated North America stores in the near future.

A growing number of companies have started to accept virtual currencies, bringing an asset class shunned by major financial institutions until a few years ago closer to the mainstream.

Fashion label Off-White, in which French luxury group LVMH took a majority stake last year, has started accepting crypto in its London, Paris and Milan flagship stores, Vogue Business reported in March.

Gucci said on Wednesday it would accept multiple digital assets, including ethereum, dogecoin, shiba inu, litecoin, and a few U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma, Silvia Aloisi and Shivam Patel; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)