Luxury sports car brand, Ferrari has recently announced that cryptocurrency payments will now be accepted as a valid form of payment for the purchase of their sport vehicles within the U.S and will extend the new payment system to Europe as well. The company has employed BitPay as its cryptocurrency payment processor for the first phase of the new payment scheme in the U.S, allowing payments in bitcoin, ether and USDC.
The company’s decision was prompted by multiple requests for the approval of crypto payment by its top customers, mostly young cryptocurrency billionaires as well as traditional investors seeking to diversify their portfolio into cryptocurrency.
While cryptocurrency payments are largely avoided by blue-chip companies due to the high volatility of the crypto market and its effect on the value of various coins and tokens as well as regulatory uncertainties of cryptocurrency. However, Ferrari has recently taken a bold step in ensuring that its customers are satisfied as well as conforming to the proposed future of finance, following the lead of Elon Musk’s, Tesla which began accepting cryptocurrency payments for vehicles as of 2021, However, the company ended the payment scheme due to negative environmental impact.
Ferrari’s Chief of Marketing, Enrico Galliera made insights that the company is working overtime to ensure a decreased carbon footprint as it plans to largely utilize renewable energy sources. Galliera confirmed the company’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, he also stated that prices of the vehicles will not change with the current development as there will be no extra fees involved with the new cryptocurrency payment system and Bitpay will ensure that crypto payments to the company are from legitimate sources which are not linked to money laundering or tax evasion.
The company has yet to list the number of cars or models expected to be sold via crypto payment. However, orders are fully booked till 2025. 46% of Ferrari’s shipments goes to the regions: Europe, The new payment scheme to extend to Europe has been slated for the first quarter of 2024 and will follow through to other regions where cryptocurrency is legally approved afterwards.