Since establishing his retail operations in 1980, Silicon Valley-based jeweller and gemmologist Stephen Silver has demonstrated an uncanny adaptability to emerging technology. In an industry rocked by changing consumer behaviour, Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry has seen tremendous sales growth since 2014. Silver expressed that their early embrace of cryptocurrency payment processing has led to a new area of consumer spending.
In a move led by the company’s president, Jared Silver, this early embrace of cryptocurrency has proven to be a visionary shift in the traditional luxury industry. Many of the Silvers’ clients are elite gemstone collectors and successful figures in the technology industry hailing from both Silicon Valley and around the world. The immediacy of the cryptocurrency transactions is highly appealing to this global clientele, who can purchase important coloured gemstones, haute horology timepieces, and custom and estate jewellery from Stephen Silver nearly instantaneously from around the world.
Cryptocurrency processing has become an indispensable business tool for Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry, with close to 20% of sales now being paid via cryptocurrency, totalling millions of dollars at an average sale close to sevenfigures. Remarking on the company’s success driven by cryptocurrency, CEO Stephen Silver stated, “Cryptocurrency has surpassed the volume of retail credit card purchases in the company in a very short time period. We’ve created revenue that the company would not even enjoy without being able to accept cryptocurrency. The volume of cryptocurrency as a form of settlement far exceeds the volume of dollars processed by credit card. Large sums of money are where we are finding cryptocurrency to be a huge advantage.”
The Silvers view rare gemstone acquisitions as objects of portable wealth, a stable, alternative asset class that appreciates for generations. Finalising these purchases through cryptocurrency processing allows investors to diversify their portfolio from a highly volatile asset class to a more stable tangible investment strategy. The benefits of cryptocurrency payment processing have revolutionised his business, as Jared Silver further explained, “Private investors can take advantage of cryptocurrency to facilitate major purchases for millions of dollars from anywhere in the world, with an immediacy that cuts out third-party wire transfers and credit card processers. Along with these benefits, by transacting in cryptocurrency, investors additionally save up to 1.5% on purchases made with Bitcoin as they will not incur conversion fees. At the end of the day, everybody wins.”
Stephen Silver has become known as a leader in his field amongst the VC community thanks to his embrace of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. “There is a potential for blockchain technology to benefit not just individual enterprises, but to revolutionise the industry and luxury consumers as a whole,” explained Stephen Silver.