Close Menu
    Monday, June 23
    Elon Musk, Tesla CEO

    You Can Now Buy a Tesla With Bitcoin Says Elon Musk

    9
    By on Bitcoin, Business, Electric Cars, Products, Transportation

    Tesla has begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for vehicles. Tesla Inc Chief Elon Musk said on Wednesday that a Tesla vehicle can now be bought using bitcoin and the option will be available outside the United States later this year.

    The automaker last month revealed that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and that it would soon start accepting the world’s most popular cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

    “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin,” Musk tweeted.

    People outside the U.S. will be able to buy a Tesla with bitcoin “later this year,” Musk said, without specifying which countries. In order to accept the payment, Musk said Tesla is using “internal” and “open-source software.”

    He added that Tesla “operates bitcoin nodes directly.” Nodes are computers on bitcoin’s network that work to verify transactions and avoid the cryptocurrency from being spent twice.

    Despite Bitcoin being a global currency, the payment option looks to be only available in certain markets for now. If you’re a company, accepting payment in Bitcoin has a big upside, with the price of the cryptocurrency continuing to rise. At the time of writing 1 Bitcoin was worth the equivalent of A$71,089.46 (around US$53,863).

    As a customer, buying a fixed value asset with a mostly appreciating asset (due to Bitcoin’s programmed scarcity) may be a decision to come to regret later, but that’s a problem for another day.

    If you happen to have a decent amount of Bitcoin, then parting with some of it for a real-world object like a Tesla is probably not the worst decision you’ll make. For some Bitcoin investors, their ultimate goal is to have the value of that investment grow to the point where they can exchange it for goods and now people can ask, ‘When Tesla?’, instead of ‘When Lambo’?

    With this development that Tesla will accept Bitcoin for payment of vehicles, also comes with many new questions. In a follow-up tweet, Elon has confirmed some important new detail on how the company will transact Bitcoin. I think the expectation was that the payment from customers would essentially be converted back to cash on the books for Tesla.

    It turns out that isn’t the case, with Elon confirming that Tesla is actually running Bitcoin nodes and Bitcoin paid will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency. This information is really important to the Tesla balance sheet, as they will pay the costs of building the vehicle as expenses in USD, but won’t be able to recognize the income, very strange.

    This information is really important to the Tesla balance sheet, as they will pay the costs of building the vehicle as expenses in USD, but won’t be able to recognize the income, very strange.

    A support page on the Tesla website lists the following information about the new payment type.

    How do I pay with Bitcoin?
    Initiate payment from your Bitcoin wallet. You can either scan the QR code or copy and paste the Bitcoin address and the exact Bitcoin amount into your wallet.

    What if I accidentally send the wrong amount?
    If you did not send the exact amount due for your order deposit, your order may be cancelled. If you did not send the exact amount due for final amount due on your car, it may cause a delay in the delivery of your car.

    If I have Bitcoin in multiple wallets, should I send more than one payment?
    No. To ensure timely processing of your order, send the exact amount in a single Bitcoin payment.

    How long does it take to process my Bitcoin payment?
    Once you send Bitcoin from your wallet, the page will refresh within one minute. If it does not refresh, do not send a new payment. We will email you a confirmation once payment is received. This can take up to six hours to process.

    How long do I have to complete my payment?
    Once you’re on the payments page and the timer begins, you will have until the timer expires to complete your payment. Once the time runs out, the QR code, Bitcoin address and Bitcoin price will all expire and you will need to create a new order or return to your Tesla Account to initiate a new final payment.

    What cryptocurrency does Tesla accept?
    Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency Tesla accepts.

    What countries support Bitcoin payments?
    We are only supporting Bitcoin for customers in the continental United States. We will consider expanding into new markets in the future.

    What if I send a different cryptocurrency to the specified Bitcoin address?
    We will not receive the transaction and it will likely result in a loss of funds for you.

    Update
    We’re now seeing some owners place their orders using Bitcoin. There is one change to ordering with BTC, that’s the deposit isn’t refundable.

    It looks like Tesla’s head of Supercharger UX, Michael Rihani is pretty happy about the inclusion of Bitcoin as a payment method.

    Share.

    Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi has been covering blockchain technology, intelligent technologies, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, telecommunications technology, sustainability, autonomous vehicles, and other topics for Innovation Village since 2017. In the years since, he has published over 4,000 articles — a mix of breaking news, reviews, helpful how-tos, industry analysis, and more. | Open DM on Twitter @TapiwaMutisi

    Related Posts