NAPLES, Fla. – From real estate to the art world, the use of cryptocurrency is popping up all across Southwest Florida.
Last month, Naples Luxury Builders broke the news that they would begin accepting bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency as payment for their houses.
Now, Emillions Art Gallery along 5th Avenue South in Naples announced that they would also be adding cryptocurrency as a payment option.
“It’s my responsibility to provide the service if I can,” said president and founder of Emillions, Marlissa Gardner.
But her decision to enter the crypto world really started last year when the pandemic first began.
As the months went by, Gardner noticed that more and more people were flocking to buy art.
“You know all of a sudden sales started just upticking because people were home to look at it, to enjoy it,” Gardner said.
She began doing extensive research on several different types of cryptocurrency.
“During this process we have now revisited the bitcoin and etherium and are integrating it into our website along with the Idoneous,” Gardner said.
To put it lightly, the business decision paid off. In June of last year, Gardner sold an original Picasso using cryptocurrency. Just last month, she sold two more paintings, accepting cryptocurrency for both.
In less than a year, Emillions sold three paintings using cryptocurrency and Gardner said everyone involved is thrilled with the experience.
“The artist is happy. The company is happy. I’m happy,” she said.
Another bonus, by using this cryptocurrency platform, Gardner said customers will experience an expedited process of buying and selling. There’s also even more authentication provided for each piece of artwork listed for sale.
“Let’s say you buy a Picasso and it’s validated by everybody and their brother, every expert. You can now have that provenance recorded in the blockchain so that future sales, the next guy that wants to sell it, doesn’t have to go too far,” Gardner said.
FGCU economics professor Tom Smythe said most cryptocurrencies on the market right now aren’t too different from each other, but some are better for specific areas of trade.
“Fundamentally they’re all roughly the same. There are some that are only used in certain markets,” he said.
So for galleries like Emillions, accepting cryptocurrency could be a major advantage. Smythe said overseas cryptos continue to hold their value, so trading or selling artwork from country to country could provide another option to make money.
“It provides a relatively stable store of value to be able to conduct trade both within that country but also across countries,” he said.