In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the value of Cryptocurrency spiked 89%. Now, even as we begin to emerge from the quarantine, Cryptocurrency remains one of the most popular topics of conversation. While we may not be able to buy everything with cryptocurrency, there are a few places where your bitcoin is better than bills. One of the industries benefiting from this new development is cosmetic surgery.
The plastic surgery business alone is set to reach $67 billion in annual transactions by 2026. As clients increasingly face privacy concerns and a desire for anonymity, they are wondering: Can I pay for plastic surgery with Bitcoin? We got to speak to a well known Canadian plastic surgeon, Dr. Martin Jugenburg, about his clinic’s decision to start using cryptocurrency. Dr. Jugenburg, founder of Toronto’s SixSurgery Plastic Surgery Clinic, is the first plastic surgeon in Canada to accept cryptocurrency as payment for products, services, and full surgical procedures.
Dr. Jugenburg admits that accepting bitcoin can seem like a “leap of faith” with the volatility, but he sees that as a price he’s willing to pay for the plausible benefits. Cryptocurrency is particularly pertinent to the plastic surgery community because of the privacy that it offers for patients. For example, Hymen Reconstruction and Labiaplasties are procedures that patients are less likely to openly discuss, and so they may want some extra privacy protection that only this secure form of payment can offer.
When asked if he thinks that more Canadian cosmetic surgery clinics will start accepting cryptocurrency he enthusiastically says, “Yes!” At this point, he recognizes that he is very lucky to be able to take the risk of accepting cryptocurrency early. As one of the most well known plastic surgeons in Canada (for his viral online persona, famous for his realistic portrayal of the industry) he is able to see more patients in a single week than many surgeons see in a month! This has definitely given him an advantage, and one that he is very grateful for. He says. “I think that Cryptocurrency is the way of the future. For it to work, there needs to be mass adoption.” He goes as far to say that if other businesses don’t start adopting it, they may be left behind.
Although Dr. Jugenburg keeps busy with keeping up with the latest innovations in surgery, he has also managed to expand to performing plastic surgery in Miami, New Zealand, Kuwait, and throughout the Middle East. The jump to accepting cryptocurrency is largely due to the fact that it allows him to operate globally, and accept payment anywhere. B23xdby using CoinBase commerce and Coin Tracker to track payments and taxes, Dr. Jugenburg and his team have seen great success!
Of the future of cryptocurrency in the world of plastic surgery, and the world at large, Dr. Jugenburg says, “I believe we are at a critical point where Bitcoin is becoming common-place. I believe people will use crypto cards the way they will have Visa cards.”