Those wanting a new Ferrari may soon be able to pay for one with Bitcoin, with the payment option being introduced in the US, and plans to expand the program to Europe and international markets in the future.
Car-buyers in the US can now purchase a new Ferrari using Bitcoin.
The marketing and commercial chief for Ferrari says the digital currency has been introduced as a payment method in the US ahead of its rollout in Europe, news agency Reuters reports.
Wealthy customers have been lobbying Ferrari to accept payments with Bitcoin, according to the senior spokesperson Enrico Galliera, with Bitcoin boasting a number of benefits for both the customer and the vendor.
“Some are young investors who have built their fortunes around cryptocurrencies, some others are more traditional investors, who want to diversify their portfolios,” Mr Galliera said.
“This will help us connect to people who are not necessarily our clients but might afford a Ferrari,” he added.
While Bitcoin is considered the main form of ‘cryptocurrency’ – a decentralised digital currency not issued or controlled by a nation’s bank – Bitcoin is considered to be volatile, increasing and decreasing in value dramatically compared to traditional currencies like the US Dollar and Australian Dollar.
Over the past 12 months, Australian Dollar has moved from lows of 62c compared to the US Dollar, to highs of 72c, and back to its current level of 63c.
Meanwhile, over the same period, Bitcoin has fluctuated from lows of $US15,750 ($AU25,000) to $US31,500 ($AU50,000), with the value currently sitting at $US27,200 ($AU43,000).
In early 2021, Tesla invested $US1.5 billion ($AU2.38 billion) in Bitcoin, and soon began accepting it as payment for its electric vehicles. However, the payment option was removed a short time later and has yet to be reintroduced.
Bitcoin has been criticised for its heavy reliance on electricity, with vast amounts of computer processing required to solve algorithms in order to create a single Bitcoin.
A spokesperson for Ferrari has confirmed to Drive the Italian supercar company will initially introduce the Bitcoin payments in the US ahead of Europe, with plans to eventually roll out the digital currency payment to international markets.
