CEO of Tesla, Elo Musk just announced that people can now
use bitcoin for payment of the cars in the US. The company’s US website now
shows the option of paying using cryptocurrency. Musk added that the option
will become available to more users in other countries later this year.
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
In addition to this news, Musk also shared the details about
the way Tesla is going to handle this new payment option. “Bitcoin paid to
Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency,” he
explained in a tweet.
Details about the bitcoin payment process are shared on Tesla’s website in the FAQ section. Users are given two options to initiate payment: by scanning a QR code or copying and pasting its bitcoin wallet address. Moreover, trying to send any other form of cryptocurrency to its wallet would likely result in a loss of funds as the transaction will not be received.
Tesla’s bitcoin payment terms and conditions state that the
company’s cars will continue to be priced in US dollars, and customers choosing
to pay through cryptocurrency will pay the equivalent value in bitcoin. For instance,
a $100 deposit paid would equal 0.00183659 BTC.
Customers have also been warned that they should be careful when
inputting both the bitcoin address and amount to be paid, as bitcoin
transactions cannot be reversed. In case the bitcoin address is input incorrectly,
the bitcoin may be irretrievably lost or destroyed. The company has also clarified
that although bitcoin payments usually take less than an hour to complete, the duration
could extend to up to “one day or more.”
Tesla’s plan to start accepting bitcoin as payment was
revealed almost over a month ago in its annual 10-K report, along with the
total amount that it invested in the cryptocurrency, which was $1.5 billion.
