Sunday Morning Coming Down
“Out of the blue, all of these kids from crypto started coming down and spending a lot of money – like, an insane amount of money,” Andrea Vimercati, director of food and beverage at Moxy Hotel Group, told the Financial Times over the weekend, recalling the fruits of the covid-era boom in digital assets. “They were booking tables [at swanky Miami nightclubs] for $50,000 and it was like ‘who the hell are these people,’” he added.
Answering his own question, the hospitality executive continued: “ninety-five percent men, young. . . with a kind of nerdy style. . . They wanted to show they didn’t have any limits. They were ordering 12 or 24 bottles of the most expensive champagne and just showering themselves without even drinking.”
Yet as sunrise follows night, that bacchanal has given way to a less-celebratory backdrop. [In]famous Miami nightclub E11even, which began accepting crypto as payment in April 2021, processed more than $6 million in such sales last year, operating partner Gino LoPinto relays. Over the past three months, that revenue stream has slowed to a trickle of less than $10,000.
Unfortunately for those former highfliers, converting crypto into fiat for spending purposes is a federally taxable event.
https://www.grantspub.com/resources/commentary.cfm