Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, revealed on Twitter that the company now accepts bitcoin as payment for its vehicles in the United States. The cryptocurrency payment option is now available on its US website, alongside the conventional credit card payment option. Other countries will be able to pay with bitcoin “later this year,” according to Musk.
Musk provided some information on how Tesla handles cryptocurrency and confirming the availability of the new payment option. “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency,” he said in a follow-up tweet. “Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.”
In a FAQ on its website, Tesla explains how the bitcoin payment process functions, noting that users will initiate the payment by scanning a QR code or copying and pasting its bitcoin wallet address. Sending any other cryptocurrency to its wallet would result in it “not receiving the transaction and possibly resulting in a loss of funds for you.”
Tesla’s bitcoin payment terms and conditions state that its cars will continue to be priced in US dollars, with consumers who want to pay in bitcoin receiving the equivalent value. For example, Tesla estimates that a $100 deposit paid today equals 0.00183659 BTC. According to Tesla’s terms and conditions, customers should use caution when entering both the bitcoin address and the amount to be charged. “Bitcoin transactions cannot be reversed,” it states, adding that “if you enter the bitcoin address incorrectly, the bitcoin can be irreversibly lost or destroyed.” Customers are also responsible for paying all bitcoin transaction fees associated with their purchase. Tesla warns that although bitcoin transfers usually take less than an hour, they may take up to “one day or more” to complete.
Because of bitcoin’s uncertainty, Tesla advises that any bitcoin refund “may be substantially less” than the amount of the original transaction. Because of bitcoin’s price, Tesla warns that any bitcoin refund “might be significantly less” than the value of bitcoin in US dollars at the time of purchase.
Tesla revealed its intention to start accepting bitcoin as payment in its annual 10-K filing a little over a month ago, saying it will do so in the “near future.” The company also stated that it had invested $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency in the same filing. Bitcoin’s price soared to over $43,000 as a result of the report, which was an all-time high at the time. 1 bitcoin is now worth slightly more than $56,000 as of this writing.
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