- As the crypto community continues to expand, Courbet will be the first jewellery brand in Europe to accept crypto payments
- This partnership ties two brands that share the same values in terms of corporate social responsibility
Lunu enables the first crypto payments in the jewellery and retail sector in Europe
Paris, FRANCE – Lunu, a specialist in online and in-store crypto payments for retailers and consumers, today announces a partnership with French jewellery retailer Courbet. Lunu’s technology, which allows customers to pay for their purchases in cryptocurrencies, will be available in Courbet’s showroom Place Vendôme and on its website. Crypto payments will be enabled in Courbet boutiques via electronic payment terminals (EFTPOS terminals) and on its website via the Lunu widget – which facilitates the same processing and exchange functions for crypto customers online as the Lunu Terminal offers in-store.
Although the number of e-wallet holders passed the 101 million mark according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, few businesses currently accept crypto payments. Through this partnership, Courbet will be the first jewellery brand in Europe to offer its customers the possibility to pay for their purchases using cryptocurrencies. Lunu’s payment terminals, which are intended as a payment evolution rather than an alternative, will also accept other means of payment.
Lunu doesn’t impose its own exchange rate for cryptocurrency conversions into fiat (fiduciary) currencies and transaction fees are very competitive. Lunu’s transaction fee, on the terminal or widget, is just 1%, compared to commissions of 1.5 to 3% charged by other traditional payment systems.The retailer receives fiat money in its bank account, which spares it from having to perform additional currency exchange operations and from having to pay high commissions. The customer does not pay any commissions to Lunu during the transaction.
“The hallmark of the Courbet House is luxury, but also disruption,” said Manuel Mallen, President and Co-founder of Courbet. “After announcing the use of synthetic diamonds and recycled gold, we are proud to position ourselves at the next technological frontier represented by crypto payments. This progress is also being made with Lunu, a trusted partner with whom we share values in terms of social responsibility.”
Courbet uses exclusively synthetic diamonds, created in the laboratory, and recycled gold, mainly from obsolete industrial and computer equipment. The most responsible and eco-friendly sourcing according to its founders. Lunu is supporting Oceans in Transformation, an exhibition organised at Ocean Space (Venice) by the TBA21 Academy Foundation, a collective committed to protecting and safeguarding the oceans through science, technology and art. Lunu’s technology has recently enabled visitors to make donations in cryptocurrencies for the protection of the oceans, a world premiere in the cultural sector.
“This partnership is a first step towards the democratisation of payments in cryptocurrencies, which Lunu actively seeks to promote,” said Artem Shaginyan, CEO and co-founder of Lunu. “Although cryptocurrency is a means of payment like any other, it still lacks openings because businesses have a biased view of the technology. Our work with Courbet challenges these clichés.”
“Lunu is a company and a brand of the new generation. Like Courbet, it aims to be an actor, rather than a spectator, of its era; to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem,” said Vadim Grigoryan, Partner and CMO at Lunu. “Lunu has real values of freedom, transparency and openness. In the 21st century, the commitment of brands to strong values will be at the top of their concerns and will be part of their raison d’être.”
With this partnership, Courbet and Lunu are offering a positive payment alternative in the world of jewellery without stigmatising a thousand-year-old tradition and Courbet is once again demonstrating its ability to adapt to the demands of a changing world. Lunu’s terminals accept a wide range of cryptocurrencies in order to adapt to different consumers and systematically charge the customer the low exchange rates effectively dictated by the market rather than imposed by Lunu.
About Courbet
Courbet is a young ecological jewellery brand. It opened its first store at 7 place Vendôme in 2018. What makes it so unique? It is the first jewellery brand to claim the use of cultured diamonds, synthetic diamonds and recycled gold, but above all to consider each of its decisions through an ecological spectrum. The founders, Manuel Mallen and Marie-Ann Wachtmeister take this approach for granted. Five years ago, there was no real alternative to mined diamonds. Today, on the other hand, we have the choice and therefore no reason to excavate for diamonds when science and technology make it possible to produce a diamond with exactly the same physical, chemical and optical characteristics as mined diamonds. It is also environmentally friendly, as the gold used in the workshops is 100% recycled, mainly from obsolete industrial and computer equipment. There is more gold circulating on the surface of the planet today than will ever be found by digging into the ground. In 2020, Courbet closed a second fund-raising campaign to begin its international deployment and to finance the creation of a diamond factory in south-western France. They will be the first French diamonds in history!
About Lunu
LUNU Solutions was founded in Berlin in 2018 by Artem Shaginyan (CEO) and Petr Vishnyakov (CTO) to close the gap between cryptocurrencies and the real world. The company’s innovative payment solutions allow customers to spend their cryptocurrencies as fiat cash at points of sale instore and online in ordinary, transparent, retail transactions taking just a few seconds and costing less than other non-cash purchases.
LUNU’s digital processing service supports a potentially unlimited number of cryptocurrencies and compatible wallets – as well as credit card and NFC payments systems. LUNU Credit Access offers instant loans in stablecoins online, and the LUNU Wallet allows crypto holders to exchange their currency online for real money and deposit it directly into their bank accounts. Lunu is an aspirational brand –principled, fair and even-handed, dedicated to art and aesthetics, with a strong sense of social responsibility. The company’s current activities in the arts are based on the idea of the ‘cosmic ocean’ which, like the Lunu terminal, connects the world and its inhabitants. More than just a tech startup, Lunu is emblematic of a new way of life for the 21st century.
