While Bitcoin may not yet be accepted as a medium of exchange for everyday items, luxury car dealers have seen a notable increase in customers wanting to transact in Digital Assets primarily Bitcoin and Ethereum. Two companies at the forefront of these deals are Marino Performance Motors (MPM) out of West Palm Beach, Florida and Digital Asset Investment Management (DAIM), a digital asset advisory firm headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.
MPM Sales & Finance Manager Gil Courchene saw the opportunity to take advantage of this growing customer base. He said,
"In the past year we have had so many people ask about paying for cars in crypto. We had clients flying in from across the US looking at specific cars but they were intent on paying with cryptocurrency. I didn't want that to be a dealbreaker for us." He quickly set up the business to transact in Bitcoin and Ethereum. He thinks finding a trusted partner is the most important piece to supporting these transactions.
"There are people who want to accept crypto and people who want to spend it, but there is a lack of familiarity with the process so finding a partner I could trust was paramount." Buyers who want to pay with crypto need to know the risks have been removed from the transaction. Gil said using a licensed and experienced digital asset manager reassures them the transaction will go smoothly. To do this, he teamed up with DAIM, which offers crypto advisory and management services.
DAIM COO Mike Soroudi thinks it is important luxury retailers become comfortable transacting in cryptocurrency.
"People see crypto as this confusing blackbox where transactions are flying around anonymously. Once the client sends a transaction, we tell them and the vendor to go on a block explorer and view the transaction in real time. Retailers can match the transaction ID, addresses, and amount and begin to understand the legitimacy and clarity of the system. At 3 confirmations they know the process is complete. In actuality there is more transparency and faster transaction finality than the legacy banking options available." DAIM sees this as a small step toward more efficient and open payment processing as well as improved treasury management. Soroudi continued,
"We can get the transaction completed fairly quickly. Usually the vendor will receive the cash back within the hour. Interestingly, as companies complete more and more transactions we see them wanting less and less cash back. They are becoming more comfortable with the idea of converting only the portion needed for immediate liquidity needs and keeping the rest in Digital Assets. Bitcoin is an excellent store of value, and in a low interest rate and high inflation environment keeping excess money in cash erodes the holder's purchasing power immensely. Another strategy we've used is keeping the money in a stablecoin with a 5-8% yield before deploying the capital." Bitcoin and Digital Assets are slowly becoming a way of life. People with large positions in cryptocurrencies are not just looking to drastically increase their net worth. They want to be present and participate in the ecosystem. That means ditching the banking system in many cases. Using cryptocurrency as a secure and efficient medium of exchange for luxury items is gaining steam and it could be a matter of time before buying Porsches, yachts, and homes with Bitcoin becomes the norm.
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