Tesla is Ready to Accept Bitcoin as a Form of Payment

Tesla has an interesting approach when it comes to the auto industry. The carmaker once more demonstrated its unique approach this week. The company’s CEO Elon Musk made an interesting announcement on March 23. According to Musk, it is possible to buy Tesla vehicles in the U.S. with bitcoin. As a reminder, it is the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization.

As a reminder, the automaker last month revealed that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Moreover, the company announced that it would soon start accepting the world’s most popular cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

Hopefully, a support page on Tesla’s website explains how customers can pay for a Tesla using the cryptocurrency. People should keep in mind that, the company’s electric vehicles typically cost between $437,990 and $124,000 before tax.

This is not the end of the story as people outside the U.S. will be able to buy Tesla with this cryptocurrency later this year. It means that in less than a year, customers in other countries will be able to choose this form of payment. According to Musk, Tesla is using internal as well as open source software to accept the payment.

Let’s have a look at the company’s refund policy. According to this policy, should buyers seek to return their electric car and obtain a refund, the company can choose to pay them back in U.S. dollars or bitcoin.

Tesla, Bitcoin, and Elon Musk

Interestingly, despite bitcoin’s poor environmental credentials, Elon Musk embraced bitcoin more than any other major tech CEO. According to researchers from the University of Cambridge, bitcoin uses more electricity on an annual basis than the whole of Argentina. This fact highlights the scale of this issue.

It is worth noting that, Tesla’s share price and value of bitcoin experienced huge gains over the last 12 months. For instance, bitcoin’s price increased from around $7,000 to more than $55,000. Moreover, Tesla’s shares increased from around $100 to over $600.

Tesla is one of the most if not the most electric carmakers in the world. Its decision to accept the world’s largest cryptocurrency has the potential to make bitcoin even more popular around the globe. Moreover, other manufacturers should pay more attention to cryptocurrencies. This way it will be easier to convince people to start using cryptocurrencies on a regular basis.