Ferrari, in a bold pro-crypto move, has decided to accept payments for its luxury cars in the form of Bitcoin, Ether, and USD Coin in the US. The Italian automaker analysed market demands and dealer requests that resulted in this development. The brand is also looking to engage with a younger generation of buyers, many of whom are exploring investments in digital assets, by allowing crypto payments. In the coming months, Ferrari could begin accepting crypto payments in Europe as well.
Enrico Galliera, the chief marketing and commercial officer of Ferrari, confirmed the development over the weekend in an interview with Reuters.
BitPay, an app that lets merchants accept crypto payments, has been chosen by Ferrari as its payment gateway that will convert crypto payments into fiat currencies for Ferrari dealers in the US. The platform will also analyse the paid cryptocurrencies to detect if they originated from illicit activities like theft, scam, or tax evasion.
The carmaker is also not looking to levy any extra charges for people choosing to pay for their car purchases via cryptocurrencies. Ferrari’s pro-crypto move has ignited a frenzy among members of the global crypto community on X.
Many coins have pumped after retracing the previous pump, I think the next one could be $XNO
The news that Ferrari will accept crypto as payment for its cars could also be a trigger, Why? It provides instant and feeless transactions@nano pic.twitter.com/VlU4x20Pn0
— Detective Catz (@DetectiveCatz) October 15, 2023
As of now, the automaker has not specified if all models of Ferrari or just select models will be available for purchase via crypto.
This, however, is not the first time that a high-end, luxury car company has opened payments in crypto.
In early 2021, Elon Musk’s Tesla was accepting Bitcoin payments for select products and services. Musk had also discussed about opening payments in DOGE for the EV at the time. Tesla soon discontinued its Bitcoin payments owing to the harmful impact on the environment that Bitcoin mining entails.
In fact, Ferrari also has a link to crypto assets. In a bid to engage with new-age fans and reward loyalists with digital souvenirs, Ferrari had partnered with blockchain firm Velas in 2021. The deal however, fell out in January this year due to lack of participation from the carmaker, and because of the crypto slump that had struck Velas in the belly of its business at the time.
In India as well, the Mahindra and Mahindra company is considering BTC payments in the coming times, CEO Anand Mahindra had revealed in April 2023.