News

Lamborghini dealership accepts Bitcoin for car purchase

December 5, 2013

In what might lend a small bit of legitimacy to the controversial digital payment scheme, a Lamborghini dealership in Costa Mesa, Calif. announced yesterday that for the first time, it accepted Bitcoin for the purchase of a car.

Lamborghini Newport Beach announced the sale on its blog, stating that it is "excited to be opening the door to this new currency." No details on the price (either in Bitcoin or U.S. dollars) was given, but the car in question was a Tesla Model S, which has a base price of $63,570.

It is also unclear how much of a risk the dealership is taking by accepting the currency, which has been notable in recent weeks for strong fluctuation in its value. Some readers have speculated in the comments that the dealership might have had a third-party intermediary like BitPay, which would have converted the bitcoins into U.S. dollars and effectively made this a cash transaction.

Read more about retail payments.