The question of whether you can buy a car with cryptocurrency has been something of a hot topic in recent weeks. EV industry leader Tesla recently announced that it plans to accept Bitcoin as payment while simultaneously buying $1.5 billion in BTC.
That’s a lot of Bitcoin.
Shortly after this massive investment in crypto, founder Elon Musk announced a change to the Tesla C-Suite’s typical titles. Henceforth, he is to be known as Technoking of Tesla, with his CFO earning the newly minted title Master of Coin.
Both are seen as a nod to the fact that the company appears to be going all-in on crypto.
But the Tesla billionaire’s quirkiness aside, buying a car with cryptocurrency is simply a natural progression of the seismic shifts that have been disrupting the automotive industry in recent years.
Today we’re looking at those fundamental changes that are reshaping the auto industry, how it impacts consumers, and what it means for the future of buying a vehicle with crypto.
Auto buying has already shifted to an e-commerce model
These days, there are two common ways to buy a car: at a dealership or online. Each method has its die-hard fan base as well as a fair share of detractors. Regardless of which method you prefer, however, the numbers show that more and more people are becoming comfortable with the process of shopping for and purchasing a vehicle online.
E-commerce car-buying contributed to a 25% rise in vehicle sales in Q2 of 2020.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that 81% of consumers do not enjoy the typical car-buying process. That’s what some online auto dealers are banking on, at least.
Disruptors like Carvana, known for its auto vending machines and simplified, no-haggle buying experience, continued to gain traction in 2020, with vehicle sales rising 25% in the second quarter. This was likely driven by a rise in e-commerce tendencies during the pandemic.
Other well-known brands like CarMax offer a hybrid experience that bridges the gap between buying a car fully online and visiting a dealership. Consumers can complete as much of the researching and purchasing process as they’d like online or visit a local dealership for one-on-one service. These days, you can even swing by and pick up your new-to-you vehicle curbside.
Buying a car with cryptocurrency is the next logical step
The same crowd that finds themselves fed up with the tired (and tiring) process of haggling over a vehicle’s price for hours with a salesperson is also a crowd that is tech-savvy and often has a distaste for centralized authority and hyper-regulation.
Enter cryptocurrency.
Just as millennials would rather spend the in-person phase of their car buying journey watching their new vehicle descend through a seven-story vending machine, proponents of buying a car with crypto see a new way to revitalize the auto industry — and even make it more accessible in the process.
Can you buy a car with cryptocurrency?
The process of buying a car with crypto is surprisingly simple. Simply find your vehicle online or at one of our partner dealerships, pay with the cryptocurrency of your choice, confirm the payment with the dealer, and either pick up your vehicle or have it shipped to you, worldwide.
Buying a car with digital currency is merely the next logical step in the auto industry’s evolution.
Financing a car with cryptocurrency
We’ve established that buying a car outright with cryptocurrency is well on its way to becoming the norm, but what about financing?
Unless you happen to be part of that elite club of consumers who can walk into a dealership and hand over your payment in full, chances are you’ll want to finance your purchase of a car.
DeFi lending is essentially a peer-to-peer lending method that runs on blockchain technology. While DeFi lending has long been a way for crypto-enthusiasts to earn a passive income on their idle coins, it’s also a way to level the playing field of auto lending.
In the case of CarrDefi, users buy and sell loans and assets without relying on traditional, centralized banks.
Borrowers can connect with lenders who are simply other users who choose to participate in loan pools. These loan pools, put together by an experienced team of financing experts, put the control squarely in the users’ hands, allowing them to borrow under terms appropriate for even people with no credit to speak of.
This secure way of financing a car with cryptocurrency eliminates the uncomfortable approval processes at dealerships, a major source of stress for would-be buyers.
Bridging the gap between blockchain and the auto industry
The use of blockchain technology in the auto world goes well beyond the buying and selling of cars with cryptocurrency. Using platforms like CarrChain, for example, members can better assess a used vehicle’s real value thanks to the most comprehensive automotive records repository on the market. This brings an unprecedented level of transparency and security to the automotive industry and to consumers who wish to buy a car with cryptocurrency.
These days, consumers demand increased security and more appropriate use of their personal data — and many distrust centralized authorities like commercial banks. What’s more, the traditional haggling process with a salesperson who may or may not be feeding you lies lacks the transparency and simplicity that today’s car shoppers expect.
No matter which way you look at it, the auto industry is itching to be disrupted.
Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and the companies that bridge the gap between the tech and the industry like Carnomaly offer just that — a disruptive, revolutionary change.