High-end fitness brand Equinox to accept payment in cryptocurrencies

New Yorkers who want to get in shape for the summer will soon be able to pay for an Equinox membership with cryptocurrency, JOBLUX has learned. The luxury fitness club will become the first gym in the Big Apple to allow members to pay their dues in digital currency, a source told The Post on Sunday.

Equinox wants to meet members “where they are both digitally and physically” and is partnering with BitPay, a leading bitcoin and crypto payment service, the source said.

The decision comes as gyms have all but recovered from their major pandemic crisis. Equinox said sales were up 122% in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2019 and Crunch gyms told the Post their sales were up 60.9% in the first quarter compared to the same period.

Equinox, which costs more than $250 per month, is not the first luxury brand to start allowing customers to pay in cryptocurrency.

In March 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said anyone in the United States could pay for their electric vehicle with Bitcoin, and he even started accepting Dogecoin for Tesla merchandise.

Last February, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the ride-sharing app would “absolutely” accept cryptocurrency as payment in the future.

Even Fidelity announced last week that it was creating a way for workers to channel some of their 401,000 Bitcoin contributions.

Equinox’s move comes at a turbulent time for Bitcoin, which could soon plummet to $30,000 as investors shift liquidity from speculative assets to safer bets, market watchers we were told in April.