Tesla Bitcoin payment processor?

[dkbit98]

Anyone knows what kind of payment processor is Tesla using for purchasing their cars with Bitcoin?

We know that they are using open source software and their own Bitcoin nodes like Elon Musk said, so I suspect they are probably using BTCPay Server.

Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.

Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1374619379929772034

I decided to try and test buy one Tesla Model 3 and this is what I got after I entered my personal details and clicked Buy with Bitcoin button on their website, QR code and address.
All procedure was very quick and lasted only few minutes, and I have 30 minutes to complete my payment to bc1 Tesla address (nice to see Tesla is supporting bech32 addresses).



We can find more information about Bitcoin payment on Tesla support page:

How do I pay with Bitcoin?
Initiate payment from your Bitcoin wallet. You can either scan the QR code or copy and paste the Bitcoin address and the exact Bitcoin amount into your wallet.

What if I accidentally send the wrong amount?
If you did not send the exact amount due for your order deposit, your order may be cancelled. If you did not send the exact amount due for final amount due on your car, it may cause a delay in the delivery of your car.

If I have Bitcoin in multiple wallets, should I send more than one payment?
No. To ensure timely processing of your order, send the exact amount in a single Bitcoin payment.

How long does it take to process my Bitcoin payment?
Once you send Bitcoin from your wallet, the page will refresh within one minute. If it does not refresh, do not send a new payment. We will email you a confirmation once payment is received. This can take up to six hours to process.

How long do I have to complete my payment?
Once you’re on the payments page and the timer begins, you will have until the timer expires to complete your payment. Once the time runs out, the QR code, Bitcoin address and Bitcoin price will all expire and you will need to create a new order or return to your Tesla Account to initiate a new final payment.

What cryptocurrency does Tesla accept?
Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency Tesla accepts.

What countries support Bitcoin payments?
We are only supporting Bitcoin for customers in the continental United States. We will consider expanding into new markets in the future.

What if I send a different cryptocurrency to the specified Bitcoin address?
We will not receive the transaction and it will likely result in a loss of funds for you.

https://www.tesla.com/support/bitcoin
archive: https://archive.ph/1FQ0k

[bitmover]

Anyone knows what kind of payment processor is Tesla using for purchasing their cars with Bitcoin?

We know that they are using open source software and their own Bitcoin nodes like Elon Musk said, so I suspect they are probably using BTCPay Server.

There were rumors about it, as there was an website of tesla with btcpayserver and also some tweets:


https://twitter.com/btcpayserver/status/1359581738629034019

But from the tweet you quoted, looks like they are going to be custodial service?

Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.

Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1374619379929772034


Elon Musk has experience to do his own payment solution, as he is one of the paypal founders. He might be trying to get blockchain technology know-how as well.

[dkbit98]

But from the tweet you quoted, looks like they are going to be custodial service?

I don't think he is using any custodial service, because he learned that lesson very well when he used freewallet  

Maybe this tweet from BtcpayServer developers explains it all, sad and beautiful at the same time:

WE DON’T KNOW IF @elonmusk
RUNS BTCPAY TO ACCEPT #Bitcoin. SAD AND BEAUTIFUL AT THE SAME TIME. Smiling face with open mouth and smiling eyes
BACK TO BUILDING🛠

https://twitter.com/BtcpayServer/status/1374641759662276612

[bitmover]

But from the tweet you quoted, looks like they are going to be custodial service?

I don't think he is using any custodial service, because he learned that lesson very well when he used freewallet  
https://twitter.com/BtcpayServer/status/1374641759662276612

That's exactly what I said. He is the custodial service.

 Maybe that's may not sound exactly what I thought, but he is holding the bitcoin. I think he is probably doing everything, even the payment processor.\

Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1374619379929772034

[pugman]

What bitmover said^ and also this:

A handful of mainstream brands have allowed customers to make purchases with bitcoin through third-party processors, but Tesla suggested it might accept bitcoin directly as part of a broader plan to incorporate the cryptocurrency into its investment portfolio.

Sources: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currency-tesla-payments-idUSKBN2A82O0

https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/tesla-begins-accepting-bitcoin-as-payment-for-its-evs-musk-says-1.1190339

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/business/elon-musk-tesla-bitcoin.html
Regardless, pretty cool fucking move by Tesla. Its almost, just almost astonishing to see you can directly buy almost 2 Tesla's with 1 fucking bitcoin. Shit makes me so happy to hear and see. And who else but Elon Musk to integrate bitcoin as a payment option for purchasing cars. He may be a fucking prat with dumb memes on twitter, but he makes good decisions at times as well.

Good move by Tesla/Musk.

[suchmoon]

Never mind the payment processor, Tesla for 0.0017 BTC? I didn't realize BTC is worth that much today. Might as well buy a couple in case one breaks or catches fire or decides to turn left in front of a truck (although arguably you may no longer need the other one in that last case).

Would be cooler though if Musk started taking bitcoins for rides to the space station.

[magneto]

I think that chances are that this is proprietary.

They seem to be interested in acquiring BTC on an ad hoc basis anyway so I don't see any reason for them to have to go through the trouble of going to a third party payment processor who will convert their BTCs into fiat.

If true, then this is honestly really cool and refreshing to see given the fact that most corporations who start to accept BTC do so through a processor such as Bitpay, which defies the entire purpose of BTC transactions being decentralised.

[hugeblack]

They have the money and the will to accept Bitcoin payments (and hold them for a while) so they cannot rely on third-party apps.
The real question is whether they created their own payment system and made it open source, or did they use one of the open source payment systems that currently exist.

Based on Musk’s tweets, I don’t think he will trust any existing system. they use bc1 addresses, it is likely that they have created their own payment system.

[o_e_l_e_o]

You can read their Bitcoin Terms and Conditions here: https://www.tesla.com/assets/pdf/btc_terms_and_conditions_en_US.pdf. It makes no mention of a payment processor or any third party whatsoever, which you can maybe take to mean that they do not use one. It also includes the following statement:

Our Bitcoin digital wallet is not configured to detect or receive digital assets other than Bitcoin.

The fact that they say "Our Bitcoin digital wallet", and not "Our third party payment processor" or something similar, makes me agree with the posters above who suggest that this is their own proprietary software they are running.

[Insanerman]

Elon most likely to spend his money with his own Payment Gateways for his products and might now really rely on the existing products of the others (unless he hires or he buys it lol). either way, payment processors doesn't really have any impact with the purchasing and the overall transaction in buying a Tesla with bitcoin. Also, if ever they run their own node, they might really have their own system of payment which then redirects to a wallet that would hold all payments.

[o_e_l_e_o]

either way, payment processors doesn't really have any impact with the purchasing and the overall transaction in buying a Tesla with bitcoin.

It makes a huge difference. There are some bitcoin payment processors which should be avoided at all costs.

BitPay, for example, despite being inexplicably popular, are anti-bitcoin, anti-privacy, have outdated and flawed security practices, demand KYC, sell your data, work with blockchain analysis companies, are funded by known scammer Roger Ver, refuse and block transactions without any prior warning based on arbitrary reasons such as IP address, and more. There are a growing number of people, myself included, who will flat out to refuse to use them or any company which uses them to process their transactions. I wouldn't even buy something worth 1000 sats via a merchant which is using BitPay. There is no way in hell I would ever buy something as expensive as a Tesla via BitPay.

https://debitpay.directory/anti-bitcoin/

[dothebeats]

Tesla seems to be the big mover of bitcoin adoption all of a sudden. Looking at the price right now, 1 bitcoin can buy almost 2 Teslas, and that's something I thought I'd never be saying given how far we were from this price range just a year ago. Also, from the looks of things, they are doing all the processing on their end without relying to any third-party, and that's also a plus. I'm used to seeing companies 'accepting bitcoin' and integrating a third-party service to act as a payment channel. Now it seems that one company is starting to do all things on their own, and hopefully set a precedent for more companies that also wants to do this but are scared to lose profits.

Would be cooler though if Musk started taking bitcoins for rides to the space station.

Now that's something I would love to see happening.

[Theb]

I think that chances are that this is proprietary.

They seem to be interested in acquiring BTC on an ad hoc basis anyway so I don't see any reason for them to have to go through the trouble of going to a third party payment processor who will convert their BTCs into fiat.

If true, then this is honestly really cool and refreshing to see given the fact that most corporations who start to accept BTC do so through a processor such as Bitpay, which defies the entire purpose of BTC transactions being decentralised.

This just shows that Elon and Tesla wants Bitcoin and not fiat currency which from what I am understanding is they are the only company who accepts Bitcoin and not convert it to fiat currency automatically, this also means that they aren't only accepting Bitcoin just to widen the payment options for their products. Maybe Tesla is just showing that they are supporting Bitcoin in the long run as an investment and this is really a positive approach for them after buying Bitcoin as an investment earlier.

[PrimeNumber7]

While Tesla is a car company, it is also a tech company. Their software engineers are more than capable of creating custom software that can accept bitcoin payments. Musk has also said that Tesla is not going to convert the bitcoin received as payment to fiat.

My best guess is Tesla is using the open-source software bitcoin core or a derivative of it, and created its own custom payment processing software.

[hugeblack]

Update

Tesla patches BTC Pay Server.

The critical vulnerability  CVE-2021-29251 impacts users who:

- Use Docker Deployment
- Configured Email Server SMTP & share their instance with other users.
>
>

We want to thank @Tesla  for submitting the disclosure that led to these fixes and helping us with remediation. Thank you for contributing to the community and helping keep our users safe.

Source ----> https://twitter.com/BtcpayServer/status/1376962118151471105

At least, this news means that Tesla have outstanding group of developers

it cant confirm that Tesla is running BTCPayServer in production

[dkbit98]

So my suspicion was right and Tesla is really using BTCPay Server and not only that, but they are contributing and helping with bugs, that is all the beauty of open source software.
Someone can report the bug only if they are actually using the software and BTCPay founder Nicolas Dorier said this on their github page:

We want to thank @teslamotors for filing a responsible disclosure, helping us with remediation, and handling the situation professionally.
We also want to thank Qaiser Abbas, an independent web-security researcher, for an additional responsible vulnerability disclosure that was handled in this release.

https://github.com/btcpayserver/btcpayserver/releases/tag/v1.0.7.1

[LTU_btc]

I hardly can imagine that they would use custodial service, such as BitPay. Especially after bad Musk experience with Freewallet. So, BTCPayServer is only logical option. Offcourse, I think they are fully capable to make their own custom service. But probably there is no reason to invite bike when there is working product already.

Regardless, pretty cool fucking move by Tesla. Its almost, just almost astonishing to see you can directly buy almost 2 Tesla's with 1 fucking bitcoin. Shit makes me so happy to hear and see.

Haven't realized it until I saw your post. But yeah, Model 3 cost about $38 000, so, it's over 0.64 Bitcoin. But if you want to get Model S, it will cost much more and 1 Bitcoin will be not enough.

[hugeblack]

It doesn't make sense they spend their time on software they don't use. But my earlier speculation is right that they use modified version of open source payment processor (which is BTCPayServer).

It is not a convincing reason that they might do so if they were developing their system and found a similar vulnerability or that it appeared when they tested open source solutions to compare them.

It is an indication that the developer team has good experience, which means that the option to accept payments will not be a short-term option, as they may continue to accept bitcoin payments for a year or several years.

[slaman29]

I can't change my mind about this guy in that he's just a silly guy with a huge ego sometimes on twitter, especially I can't forget his truly bad behavior during the Thai boy cave rescues when he just called a hero a child molester BUT I agree.

Integrating Bitcoin on his own is good move and shows he is not just a Bitcoin wannabe but can be serious about the tech.