Cryptocurrency users are leveraging their newfound wealth to fly private jets more frequently. This week, directional aviation company Privatefly announced that almost 20% of the company’s revenue was in cryptocurrencies over the past month, 13% of which used Bitcoin.
Private flights and crypto on demand
According to the company Privatefly, the purchase of flights with digital assets has recently increased significantly. For example, a few years ago the executive aviation company said the company withdrew 1-2% from crypto payments for flights. The numbers rose significantly to 12% in December 2020 and then increased to 13% in the first month of 2021. Of the 13% in BTC payments, cryptocurrency settlement generally accounts for 19% of Privatefly’s revenue.
Adam Twidell, CEO of Privatefly.
The airline states that Privatefly started adopting Bitcoin in early 2014 and has since expanded support for cryptocurrencies. The company uses Bitpay for one-time flights or memberships and launched a new Bitcoin program this week. Privatefly has set up the “Bitcoin Jet Account” with which customers can hold their BTC and open a membership at the same time, but keep the balance in crypto.
“While we’ve been accepting Bitcoin payments for many years,” said Adam Twidell, CEO of Privatefly. “Cryptocurrency transactions have increased dramatically in the past few months. This is in line with Bitcoin’s appreciation – in that 13% of our flights were paid for this way last month. So far we’ve only seen 1-2% each month, ”added the CEO.
Twidell continued:
Some of them are customers who want to realize their profits while others want to keep their cryptocurrency in anticipation of future increases. In addition to becoming a member of Bitcoin and converting account balances into traditional currencies (as we’ve been offering for some time), we are now offering a membership program that allows account balances to remain in Bitcoin.
“The perfect way to pay”
Privatefly stated years ago that Belgian tech entrepreneur Olivier Janssens was the company’s first customer to pay for Bitcoin. Janssens flew from Brussels to Nice Cote D’Azur and booked and paid for the trip on the same day.
“The flight was the largest Bitcoin payment transaction I’ve made,” Janssens said at the time. “But it was very easy and efficient, especially since I wanted to fly at very short notice. It was the perfect way to pay. “
Recently, Credit Suisse Group AG, BNP Paribas SA and a number of other financial institutions said the demand for private jets has grown massively and should continue through 2021. “Looking back, we had a very good year and much, much better than expected.” Werner Slavik, head of aviation for the equipment finance department of Societe Generale SA, said this during a Jet Investor event.
The aviation company Privatefly offers one-off private flights on demand. However, regular customers can also create a member account and deposit money regularly. “Privatefly has always sought to simplify private jet booking by combining innovative technology with deep industry expertise and the secure support of one of the world’s largest private aviation companies with annual sales of over $ 2 billion,” said Twidell during the announcement.
“Many of our customers are tech savvy and entrepreneurial people. That’s why we started accepting Bitcoin payments for one-time flights in 2014, a world first at the time, ”concluded Twidell. “We are now the first to offer a private jet membership program based on Bitcoin funds.”
Privatefly also supports payments in Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH) and four USD-linked stablecoins (GUSD, USDC, PAX and BUSD).
What do you think of Privatefly’s recent surge in crypto revenue and the Bitcoin Jet Account? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments section below.
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2014, 2021, Adam Twidell, Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash BCH, BitPay, BTC, BUSD, crypto income, Ethereum (ETH), flights, GUSD, Olivier Janssens, Pax, private flights, Privatefly, Privatefly flights, Privatefly Jets, Revenue, USDC
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