Getty images | Chesnot
Tesla began accepting bitcoin as payment for car buyers in the continental United States, and CEO Elon Musk said the company plans to expand the new payment option to other countries later this year.
Musk announced today’s news on Twitter. “Now you can buy a Tesla with Bitcoin … Tesla is using only internal and open source software and operates Bitcoin nodes directly. The Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted into fiat currency,” wrote Musk.
Tesla recently bought $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin, a move that caused cryptocurrency prices to skyrocket. A regulatory document from Tesla on February 8 said the company would begin accepting bitcoin as payment “in the near future”. Although Musk is betting heavily on bitcoin, customers may prefer to buy Tesla cars in dollars if they expect the price of bitcoin to continue to rise.
The bitcoin payment process is described on the Tesla website in a support FAQ and terms and conditions. “Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that Tesla accepts,” said the company. Sending another cryptocurrency to Tesla “will likely result in a loss of funds for you”.
Tesla’s bitcoin support FAQ is elusive in accepting bitcoin outside the United States, saying that Tesla “will consider expanding into new markets in the future”. But another Musk tweet said: “Bitcoin payment capability available outside the US later this year.”
Be careful
The bitcoin option is shown in Tesla’s online checkout process, just below “card order”. Tesla will continue to price its products in US dollars. The terms and conditions say:
If you choose to make a payment using Bitcoin, you must pay a Bitcoin amount equal to the purchase price in US dollars for the product you purchased. We will provide you with a price in US dollars for the product or service you are purchasing, as well as an equivalent price in Bitcoin (the “Bitcoin Price”). You must initiate the transfer of the Bitcoin Price to us within the period of time we provide you with the Bitcoin Price (the “Bitcoin Price Window”). If you do not initiate the transfer of the Bitcoin Price to us within the Bitcoin Price Window, the Bitcoin Price will expire and we will provide you with a new Bitcoin Price and Bitcoin Price Window upon your request.
An upper-case warning from Tesla told buyers to watch out for errors that could result in lost cryptocurrency. “We will provide you with a digital wallet address (‘Bitcoin Address’) in alphanumeric and QR code format. This is the location of the payment address to which you will need to send Bitcoin from your digital wallet … IF YOU ENTER THE BITCOIN ADDRESS INCORRECTLY, YOUR BITCOIN MAY BE LOST OR DESTROYED IMMEDIATELY, “said Tesla.
In any refund for purchases made with bitcoin, Tesla will decide whether to give the customer dollars or bitcoin. This can result in loss of value for customers as the price of bitcoin changes rapidly.
“If you are entitled to a refund of your payment or a repurchase, we reserve the right to refund the exact price of the Bitcoin that you provided to us at the time of purchase or an amount in US dollars equivalent to the US Dollar Price of the product that you bought, in our sole and absolute discretion, taking operational efficiency into account, “said Tesla.
The price of a bitcoin today was over $ 56,000, more than the starting price for some Tesla models. Bitcoin reached $ 50,000 for the first time in mid-February. The price has more than doubled since the last week of December.