That Dealership Accepting Bitcoin Isn't Really Taking Your Bitcoin

Remember that used Tesla Model S purchased with bitcoin? Well, the buyer didn't exactly use bitcoin.

Appearing on CNBC, Lamborghini Newport Beach General Manager Pietro Frigerio said the customer bought the $119,000-ish used Model S with 91.4 bitcoins that were exchanged using BitPay – an app that exchanges the e-fake money into U.S. dollars.

"It's like if you come into the dealership and you want to buy a Lamborghini using gold bars. We will not accept that. We will accept U.S. dollars. You go out. You exchange it. You come back to us. That's how it worked."

OK, but that's not what it sounds like on your website.

Bitcoin, a fully encrypted and fully digital currency, has been used by a recent client of ours to pay for a Tesla Model S Performance we had in our inventory. That's right, an electronic currency was used to purchase a fully electric vehicle.

This is the same dealership that made a big deal about being "ready to accept bitcoin" as a legitimate payment method. But it turns out they're not equipped to handle it at all and it's up to buyers to turn bitcoin into actual money. How's that "ready?"

So, an electronic currency can be used to buy an electric car in the same way you'd buy a Citroen 2CV with chickens – you have to convert it first.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, Lamborghini Newport Beach