Musk: Tesla accepts bitcoin as payment method, will not convert it to ‘fiat money’

Tesla has started accepting bitcoin as payment from 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 ad the news on Twitter today. “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin … Tesla only uses internal and open source software and operates Bitcoin nodes directly. Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be kept as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency,” Musk wrote .

Tesla recently bought $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin, a move that sent the price of the cryptocurrency higher. A regulatory filing from Tesla on February 8 said the company would start accepting bitcoin as a payment “in the near future.” While Musk is betting big 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 accepted by Tesla,” the company said. Sending another cryptocurrency to Tesla “will likely result in a loss of funds for you.”

Tesla’s Bitcoin Support FAQ does not commit to accepting bitcoin outside of the United States, claiming that Tesla “will consider expanding into new markets in the future.” But another tweet from Musk said, “Pay by Bitcoin available outside the United States later this year.”

Be careful

The bitcoin option is displayed in Tesla’s online payment process, just under ‘order with card’. 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 an amount of Bitcoin equal in value to the US dollar purchase price of the product you are purchasing. We will provide you with a US dollar price for the product or service you purchase, as well as a Bitcoin equivalent price (the “Bitcoin Price”). You must initiate the transfer of the Bitcoin price to us within the time frame that we provide to you with the Bitcoin price (the “Bitcoin price window”). If you do not initiate the Bitcoin price transfer to us in the Bitcoin price window, the Bitcoin price will expire and we will provide you with a new Bitcoin price and Bitcoin price window at your request.

An all-caps warning from Tesla told buyers to watch out for mistakes that could cause cryptocurrency to lose. “We will provide you with a digital wallet address (‘Bitcoin Address’) in alphanumeric and QR code form. This is the payment address you will need to send Bitcoins to from your digital wallet … IF YOU ARE ENTERING THE BITCOIN ADDRESS INCORRECTLY, YOUR BITCOIN MAY BE IRREADY LOST OR DESTROYED, ”Tesla said.

On any refunds for purchases made with Bitcoin, Tesla will decide whether to give the customer dollars or bitcoins. This could lead to loss of value for customers as the price of bitcoin changes rapidly.

“If you are entitled to a refund of your payment or a redemption, we reserve the right to refund you either the exact Bitcoin price you provided to us at the time of purchase or an amount of US dollars equivalent to the Price In US dollars of the product you purchased, in our sole and absolute discretion, taking into account operational efficiency, ”Tesla said.

The price of a bitcoin today was over $ 56,000, more than the starting price of some Tesla models. Bitcoin first hit $ 50,000 in mid-February. The price has more than doubled since the last week of December.