Ferrari's steel horses are now also available with cryptocurrencies

Ferrari now accepts cryptocurrencies to purchase its luxury vehicles in the US. It is a response to the demand of wealthy clients and the trend of an increasing number of crypto investors. According to the Reuters portal and the words of the head of marketing and commercial at Ferrari, they will expand the program to Europe, where some of their wealthy customers have the same requirements.

Večina “blue chip” podjetij se je izogibala kriptovalutam, saj so zaradi volatilnosti bitcoina in drugih žetonov nepraktične za trgovanje. Neenakomerna ureditev in visoka poraba energije sta prav tako preprečevali širjenje kriptovalut kot plačilnega sredstva. Tudi proizvajalec električnih avtomobilov Tesla, ki je leta 2021 začel sprejemati plačila v bitcoinih, je projekt zaradi okoljskih pomislekov kmalu ustavil.

Enrico Galliera, vodja trženja in komerciale pri Ferrariju, je za Reuters dejal, da so kriptovalute v prizadevanjih za zmanjšanje ogljičnega odtisa vnesle novo programsko opremo in podpirajo večjo uporabo obnovljivih virov. “Our goal to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the value chain by 2030 is fully confirmed,” je dejal v intervjuju.

“Nekatere izmed strank so mladi vlagatelji, ki so svoje premoženje zgradili ravno s kriptovalutami,” je dejal. “Nekateri drugi so bolj tradicionalni vlagatelji, ki želijo razširiti svoje portfelje.” Čeprav so nekatere kriptovalute, kot je na primer druga največja, ether, povečale svojo energetsko učinkovitost, bitcoin še vedno privablja kritike zaradi svojega energijsko intenzivnega rudarjenja.

In the first half of this year, Ferrari delivered more than 1,800 cars to the Americas region, which also includes the United States.

Galliera did not comment on Ferrari's expectations for the number of cars it could sell with cryptocurrencies. He said that the company's order portfolio is strong and fully occupied until 2025. The introduction of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment is something completely new and yet an area where the company wants to experiment.

“Ta poteza nam bo pomagala, da se povežemo z ljudmi, ki niso nujno naše stranke, a si lahko privoščijo Ferrarija,” he said.

The Italian company, which in 2022 sold 13,200 cars that cost more than 200,000 euros, with prices reaching up to 2 million euros, plans to expand the cryptocurrency program to Europe in the first quarter of next year, and then to other regions , where cryptocurrencies are legally accepted.

Evropa, Bližnji vzhod in Afrika (EMEA) je Ferrarijeva največja regija, ki je v prvem polletju tega leta predstavljala 46 odstotkov celotne prodaje. “Interest in the US and Europe is the same , ne vidimo velikih razlik,” je dejal Galliera. Med državami, kjer so kriptovalute omejene, pa je na primer Kitajska.

Ferrari turned to one of the largest cryptocurrency payment processors BitPay. We are talking about the initial phase in the US, where it will allow transactions with Bitcoin, Ether and USDC, the largest of these stable cryptocurrencies. Ferrari could use different payment processors for different regions. “Če plačate s kriptovalutami, se cene za vas ne bodo spremenile, ni provizij, ni dodatnih stroškov,” je dejal Galliera. “One of our main goals was to avoid dealing directly with cryptocurrencies and protect customers from their large fluctuations,” je dejal Galliera.

As a payment processor, BitPay will ensure that virtual currencies originate from legitimate sources and are not the result of criminal activities and are not used for money laundering or tax evasion.

Ferrari's head of marketing and commercial said most US dealers have already signed up to the program or will soon agree to the plan. “Prepričan sem, da se bodo kmalu pridružili tudi ostali,” je dejal Galliera.