General Motors May Start Accepting Bitcoin If There's Customer Demand

[Leviathan.007]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

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[btc_angela]

Of course, everything is customer driven, if there is a customer demand then definitely they will accommodate it. The problem is how will they know if there is a demand on their products from their customer?

And pretty sure that there will be, as crypto on bitcoin is slowly going mainstream, so still a win win for companies such as General Motors to accept it outright, just my opinion.

[avikz]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

I am very surprised to see such statement is coming from Mary. The risk appetite of GM is not good. They are always scared about exploring new markets and don't have the capability to stay in a market for a long time if challenges are thrown to them. They always try to avoid risks. So such statement about accepting bitcoin is either a gimmick or her personal preference. I will be shocked if GM actually starts accepting bitcoin as one of their payment methods.

[NicNacCoin]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

Actually all business systems completely depends on customer demand and needs. If customers don't have to buy motors with bitcoin and others cryptocurrencies,then it would not be acceptable. But if they are interested,then it could be accepted.

[Bitstar_coin]

At least they are open to accept btc whenever there is a demand for it, i think this is an opening for further opportunities, unlike other companies that will automatically reject accepting btc without given it a thought, am sure sooner there will be customer demand to buy with btc, since the news is already out and many btc lovers are aware of this fact, it won't be long before they will start getting offer, more good news for btc.

[CryptoStar19]

The reason Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and others have started to provide their financial clients with instruments to gain crypto exposure has been driven by their customers' demand and not by the financial institutions' desire to be involved in crypto.

The whole bitcoin movement has been fueled by people... institutions have joined the space only after it has reached a certain level of maturity with popular support.

So yes, in time, many more than just GM will provide crypto payment options because we the people will increasingly demand it.

[passwordnow]

That should also be the stand of other motors company if a customer is demanding to pay them in bitcoin. They can easily convert it and it's very liquid. It just so happen that Elon talked a lot of it badly and that's why many have been discouraged to discuss it anymore.
As long as the company has someone who understands how to accept and convert it eventually to cash if they want to then that's an easy task for them to accept payments in bitcoin but, they can also hold it and just do what others did, hold it as an investment of their company.

[DaveF]

There are some dealers that accept bitcoin. And, as far as I know GM (unlike Tesla) has no directly owned dealerships.
So I think this is more of a make a statement to the press.
Since most dealers are free to accept or not accept any sort of payment they want BTC could always be an option.

Once again, this is US based. I do not know how they handle international dealers.

-Dave

[stompix]

If there is demand!

Now reading the topic about Tesla accepting bitcoin back a few months ago and with the overwhelming attitude that it makes no sense to spend your precious coins buy a car with BTC, how many people do you think will actually purchase a car with BTC?
Of course, anyone can demand for a payment option in BTC, but how many are actually considering on using it?

One digital currency enthusiast, Mason Borda, told Reuters he bought a Tesla Model 3 in 2016 using bitcoin through a company called Shakepay.
Borda, chief executive of cryptocurrency software company TokenSoft, said he regrets the purchase, because of how bitcoin values have soared. When Borda bought the car, each bitcoin was worth about $400. As of Monday, however, it was worth over $44,000. That means the $130,000 spent on the vehicle would be worth more than $14 million in bitcoin today. "I recommend against purchasing big-ticket items with Bitcoin," he said. The "novelty" of doing so can quickly fade if the price rises dramatically, he said.

I pretty much envision how this will go, GM will be bombarded with millions of tweets about accepting bitcoin, it will implement it, and then in one year they are going to see at best 10 sales in BTC and they will decide to close it down as there is no actual demand.

Is anyone planning on buying a car with their coins or keep them till they hit at least 100k?  

[Lakai01]

The reason Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and others have started to provide their financial clients with instruments to gain crypto exposure has been driven by their customers' demand and not by the financial institutions' desire to be involved in crypto.

With respect, I don't think so. I can't imagine that GM in particular has the customer base that says "I'd like to pay with Bitcoin, why isn't that possible". I think if you start a poll here in the forum, who has actually ever paid something with Bitcoin, then that will definitely be a fraction of the users. Bitcoin and co. serve for many of us as a form of investment and much less as a form of payment system.

Rather, this is simply free advertising for GM to show that they are open to cryptocurrencies. It is very difficult for me to imagine that there is an actual demand behind this.

[Yogee]

..The problem is how will they know if there is a demand on their products from their customer?

Tweet a " Should General Motors accept _____" poll like Elon? Just change the Doge to BTC hehe.

...They always try to avoid risks. So such statement about accepting bitcoin is either a gimmick or her personal preference. I will be shocked if GM actually starts accepting bitcoin as one of their payment methods.

The statement itself is playing safe with that IF. There's still a way to avoid risk if they start accepting BTC as customer demands by partnering with third party payment service providers like Bitpay but they probably won't do that either.

[Renampun]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

Bitcoin cannot be rejected by big companies...

The company's trend in recent years is to accept Bitcoin as payment. Bitcoin is real money, simple money, and very valuable. a big decision that will change the future of General Motors if they accept payment with Bitcoin, their stock will definitely go up.

[buwaytress]

If there's customer demand? Bitcoin holders there can't even demand to pay for pizza with Bitcoin. Everyone trying to stack their sats and refusing to use it. Why would they splash out more than 1btc on a car?

Come to think of it, how many Teslas were bought with Bitcoin when they supposedly accepted it?

[uneng]

If I were a whale I would buy a car with my bitcoins without any problems. Or should I convert btc to fiat first and pay extra for the transactions and comissions' fees?
Not all bitcoin enthusiasts are average or poor people expecting the currency will go to the moon to change their lives, so they can finally start using the money. There are also rich adopters who use bitcoin as currency often and don't bother spending it to acquire wealthy goods like cars. If General Motors said they may start accepting btc, it's because they see potential customer's demand in the market.

[nhaila]

If there's customer demand? Bitcoin holders there can't even demand to pay for pizza with Bitcoin. Everyone trying to stack their sats and refusing to use it. Why would they splash out more than 1btc on a car?

Come to think of it, how many Teslas were bought with Bitcoin when they supposedly accepted it?

May be no one bought Tesla car with bitcoin. Bitcoin traders and investors don't have to buy a car with valuable cryptocurrencies . They are interested to hold bitcoin for longer periods.

[Argoo]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

I am very surprised to see such statement is coming from Mary. The risk appetite of GM is not good. They are always scared about exploring new markets and don't have the capability to stay in a market for a long time if challenges are thrown to them. They always try to avoid risks. So such statement about accepting bitcoin is either a gimmick or her personal preference. I will be shocked if GM actually starts accepting bitcoin as one of their payment methods.

The good news is that Elon Musk's statements about accepting bitcoins as a means of payment for the purchase of Tesla electric cars made other large companies think about this issue. If General Motors follows suit, the chain reaction could continue. At the same time, Elon Musk has already raised the problem of the quantity and quality of energy consumed by bitcoin. This problem, due to its significant urgency, will not disappear by itself. States and their governments will gladly embrace and expand this topic. Therefore, Bitcoin will need to decide something and change, otherwise it can significantly lose its position.

[DeathAngel]

This is quite big news but imagine how much mainstream exposure bitcoin will get if GM begin accepting bitcoin.
Every time a big corp integrates bitcoin into their payment systems it’s one step closer to true global, mainstream adoption.

[Vatimins]

     If this even turns into reality someday, it will certainly take much time. This is because most of the big businesses today only observe each other when it comes to accepting bitcoins or any type of altcoin as a means of payment for their products or services. The only reason why she made such a statement may only be because a huge company announced their plans on accepting cryptos along with all the other good news circling around. But hey, be it a service provider or product seller,  as long as there is a huge demand, businesses will surely adjust to reach such market. So let's wait and see because this is truly possible.

[Dewi Aries]

I think it is something good, and worth to do. I mean if want to make bitcoin as payment, maybe for something big like car or house, fees wouldn't be a problem. But if for maybe common thing, i just think if bitcoin is used as payment and fees still high, how we pay a thing with maybe under $10 with bitcoin, sometimes fee is higher. 

[Gamerholic]

This is great news only if they don't talk about the sustainability percentage like Elon Musk. In principle, this is a sensible idea and big business understands that there is nowhere to get away from cryptocurrency, and such a step towards meeting the "young generation" will in any case make a noise around their brand and attract new customers. I think we will see a lot of similar news this year, especially if bitcoin grows and Elon Musk closes his mouth.

[Stedsm]

If they are so customer driven and ready to accept BTC today (after announcing for such an acceptance), what will they do if their customers ask them to stop BTC? Will they do what Elon did?

Btw, on a positive side, I'm glad that companies are taking a step forward and entering crypto space while also testing the abilities of crypto as well as utilising it at their best.

[stompix]

Come to think of it, how many Teslas were bought with Bitcoin when they supposedly accepted it?

Considering Tesla has a habit of publishing "record" number for the last 24 hours, 2 days, to promote themselves and that even on Reddit I haven't seen signs of people pre-ordering, again bitcoiners having a habit of boasting about purchases, one can assume that the number is pretty close to zero rather than a hundred.
Probably the only ones tempted of those deals are guys who already made x100 on some serious investments, not just 10k-20k and are simply getting tired and bored of waiting till they end in a retirement house to enjoy life. Not that I see what GM could tent somebody for that purpose, except maybe a Stingray.

Just after posting the previous message, I read this one in my updated list:

Why would I pay for a cup of coffee with bitcoin when in a decade or two that same bitcoin would buy a computer... in that same amount of time that same amount of fiat that buys that coffee today would only buy half of it. No sir, use the fiat for the coffee and HODL onto the bitcoin. :-)

If one can't part with 10k satoshi I don't see a $70k purchase happening either.

[Lorence.xD]

If they are so customer driven and ready to accept BTC today (after announcing for such an acceptance), what will they do if their customers ask them to stop BTC? Will they do what Elon did?

It's not customer demand that made Elon suspend Tesla from doing the bitcoin payment option so I don't think that your worries are out of place or is stupid.

[davis196]

There's no point of discussing such news.
A company will accept Bitcoin payments IF something happens.Can't they just decide to adopt BTC payments without any additional requirements and conditions?Is this so difficult for a major corporation?
I don't believe that many customers would want to spend their Bitcoins in order to buy a car.Therefore,there won't be any "customer demand",which means that GM will never accept Bitcoin payments.

[Tumanggor]

If they are so customer driven and ready to accept BTC today (after announcing for such an acceptance), what will they do if their customers ask them to stop BTC? Will they do what Elon did?

It's not customer demand that made Elon suspend Tesla from doing the bitcoin payment option so I don't think that your worries are out of place or is stupid.

what happened to Tesla was not because of a customer request but because Elon himself made the suspension statement
General Motors and Tesla are competitors in the automotive industry

making a decision against Tesla will definitely make General Motors value go up
accept Bitcoin as one of the payments received, it must be done by General Motors

[acener]

I really believe that there would be more like this in the future those store or companies would start to accept crypto if their customers demand for it,
After all it is only a payment option so why would they decline it?
And for me it is great if also some delivery companies would also accept it as a payment for their customers order.

[Kittygalore]

I really believe that there would be more like this in the future those store or companies would start to accept crypto if their customers demand for it,
After all it is only a payment option so why would they decline it?
And for me it is great if also some delivery companies would also accept it as a payment for their customers order.

Don't believe because it will definitely happen, bitcoin is a medium of innovation and businesses that don't adapt to change will only get left behind. Pretty sure delivery companies will soon consider it because crypto has been used already for transactions.

[buwaytress]

May be no one bought Tesla car with bitcoin. Bitcoin traders and investors don't have to buy a car with valuable cryptocurrencies . They are interested to hold bitcoin for longer periods.

My point, yup. People confuse Bitcoin speculators and investors with users. They're not all using, even maybe most aren't.

Probably the only ones tempted of those deals are guys who already made x100 on some serious investments, not just 10k-20k and are simply getting tired and bored of waiting till they end in a retirement house to enjoy life. Not that I see what GM could tent somebody for that purpose, except maybe a Stingray.

Yeah, only Bitcoin rich, those who do it just for the ego boost. Nothing wrong with that either, just that all these companies accepting Bitcoin doesn't mean much. A guy comes in with 10 BTC and wants to buy from a merch that doesn't accept it? They'll come to agreements for sure.

Just after posting the previous message, I read this one in my updated list:

Why would I pay for a cup of coffee with bitcoin when in a decade or two that same bitcoin would buy a computer... in that same amount of time that same amount of fiat that buys that coffee today would only buy half of it. No sir, use the fiat for the coffee and HODL onto the bitcoin. :-)

If one can't part with 10k satoshi I don't see a $70k purchase happening either.

There you go. Not enough people believe in using. And again, nothing wrong with that. It just means a lot of the adoption news we're getting pushed actually isn't meaningful.

[Henrobakkara]

If they are so customer driven and ready to accept BTC today (after announcing for such an acceptance), what will they do if their customers ask them to stop BTC? Will they do what Elon did?

Btw, on a positive side, I'm glad that companies are taking a step forward and entering crypto space while also testing the abilities of crypto as well as utilising it at their best.

I believe that what they are saying is they will be open to accepting Bitcoin as payment if there is customer demand for it, so I don't think that if they naturally want to start accepting Bitcoin as payment, the customer will tell them not to since it will be a matter of choice to the customers, if you want to pay with Bitcoin you can and if you want the Fait means you can too.

Like you said, at the end of the day, it is a win for Bitcoin as we are witnessing all this different adoption from organizations to President.

[Haunebu]

More manipulation. Plain and simple. The GM CEO probably wants to reap profits through manipulation of the cryptocurrency market just like Elon which makes sense since it's not that tough for such powerful whales.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing though in my opinion. This could help propel the cryptocurrency market in the forward direction which would attract more investors increasing adoption rates.

A correction would definitely happen later on, but these changes would be beneficial in the long-term.

[Lucius]

This is quite big news but imagine how much mainstream exposure bitcoin will get if GM begin accepting bitcoin.
Every time a big corp integrates bitcoin into their payment systems it’s one step closer to true global, mainstream adoption.

Didn't the events around Tesla teach you anything? Bitcoin as a payment option is just one option, and it's quite another matter how many customers will actually use it - and I believe that at least 90% of those who own a BTC haven't used it for any payment. It is also more evident that there are no customer demand to pay with BTC, because otherwise GM would have already made such a move.

In addition, there are dozens of sellers around the world who accept BTC as a means of payment for at least 3-4 years - which means you can buy any type of car and pay with BTC - of course if you live in a country where this is possible.

[aysg76]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."
Barra claims that GM is trying to "simplify" its customers' shopping experience and ownership.
In February, after Tesla bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Barra said her company would evaluate bitcoin acceptance.


Source: https://u.today/general-motors-may-start-accepting-bitcoin-if-theres-customer-demand-says-ceo-mary-barra

They also want to provide what is prevalent in the market along with customers satisfaction and increasing their profits as well at the same time.The share prices will eventually rise with this decision for GM.They have taken the examples of some others in the same field like Carriage Nissan,Tesla,BMW in UK,Bob Moore Auto dealers and many others who already are accepting Bitcoin as mode of payment with them.The other main point is with btc in their reserve they can make easy profits like Tesla did with selling 10% of their initial investment making millions.With this they don't need to make huge investment as they will get it in the form of payment from customers also.So it will be wise move on their part to consider this.

[Sterbens]

this is what I'm waiting for, where not all Tesla users have to adopt Bitcoin, in fact with a strong push from the motor industry we can look at it from a wider angle. maybe that makes it easier to afford, because Tesla is very difficult for us. and the presence of General Motors, is clearly visible. there is another alternative that we can go to.

[Hydrogen]

If tesla offers bitcoin payment support. Other automakers could be forced to do the same, to remain competitive in global markets.

Its similar to how import automakers offered cup holders built into the interior of cars/trucks. Then it became standardized and everyone followed the trend.

As tesla ramps up EV production volume, it gains market share. At the expense of existing established automakers. This will force general motors to take drastic steps to become more competitive. Or risk being put out of business the way amazon may have done to sam's club by diluting their market share.

[hugeblack]

Why do you consider such good news? The company searches for what the public wants and presents it to them, but this does not mean that they are interested in Bitcoin.
They can accept Bitcoin, but by using third-party applications that process Bitcoin and send money to their computers, or sell those coins at an auction or any other reason, they are interested in what customer Demands and not in Bitcoin.
Therefore, I do not expect that they will keep those currencies if they accept them, and therefore this news will have no effect.

[stompix]

If tesla offers bitcoin payment support. Other automakers could be forced to do the same, to remain competitive in global markets.
Its similar to how import automakers offered cup holders built into the interior of cars/trucks. Then it became standardized and everyone followed the trend.

Competitive?
What has competition to do with the payment method?

First, the amount of people owning at least one bitcoin is quite low, most likely under a few tens of thousands, out of those only a few will think of buying a car, and even less will think of doing so with bitcoin and probably none will buy a car each year.I don't think anyone will buy a GM instead of a Ford just because that company accepts bitcoin, I wouldn't! Even if all the other car makers and dealerships would accept all kinds of crypto I will still buy the one I want and like, just exchange with a click the amount to euros and make a wire transfer, I will not sacrifice a good deal and end buying a car I don't like how it looks just because I can buy it with crypto.

As for the cup holders, that's an accessory people want in a car, it became standardized because millions drink stuff while they drive, a payment is a one-time process that nobody gives a damn how is done. If you think it makes that much of a difference maybe you already know the numbers of people who have ordered a tesla with bitcoins.

Therefore, I do not expect that they will keep those currencies if they accept them, and therefore this news will have no effect.

It would be a pain in the ass to do so.
If they want to hold BTC they have an easy way to invest in it, if they rely on what customers buy their cars with they will have to go through all the paperwork and document each purchase for for future tax on gains and have an army of accountants deal with it. Far easier to convert that BTC in $ and then use a few million to buy coins and stockpile them on some custody service like coin base.

[MinoRaiola]

They will start when it is profitable. Any company would do that if they were very sure. There would be no big reason to say "no". So not just General Motors, but everyone else too. It will surely come when it is profitable. That is the only and true reason.

[ILuckyGuyI]

There have been already many car showrooms which have been accepting Bitcoin payments as far as I remember. I'd like to see General Motors joining the pack also. I assume there will be demand from their customers in that way but I don't know how much they'd like it.

[eaLiTy]

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC on Wednesday that "nothing is stopping" her company from accepting Bitcoin payments:
"There's nothing that precludes us from doing that. We'll be driven by our customers."

This is a fact and if there is a demand by customers to add a payment method then they will be adding them but you need a CEO with open mind to make those decisions, i still remember in the past back in 2013 or 2014 when we were expecting amazon to add BTCitcoin when Newegg started accepting BTCitcoin and there was a lot of demand and yet they did not add them and till now there is no change in that view.

[TastyChillySauce00]

should just implement bitcoin payment method by partnering with crypto payment gateway provider, it's not like the volatility will be the biggest problem anyway since most of these payment gateway converts the crypto to USD at the time of receiving.
I doubt anyone gonna tell the company to accept bitcoin before they bought things from them since these customers could easily convert their crypto to fiat then buy instead of taking the long way of contacting the company to accept btc.

[clint25n]

if it is true that the lesing is willing to accept payment to buy a motorbike, this is very good. especially making it easier for payment transactions. and without the flow of carrying a lot of money to take a vehicle at the lesing. this deserves appreciation if this is really the case

[Kakmakr]

Well, most people only "use" their bitcoins when the price is at a ATH... so they might have to wait for a while. Unfortunately Crypto currencies like Bitcoin lost almost 50% of it's value in the last couple of months.. so it does not make sense for people to spend it now.

If they "test" the market now, they will be disappointed, because not a lot of customers are going to use their coins now and new people will not have an incentive to convert Fiat to Crypto ..just to buy a car. (Well, if they give a discount for people who buy with Crypto.. they might get some sales) 

[SFR10]

The problem is how will they know if there is a demand on their products from their customer?

In addition to what @Yogee posted, they could send out electronic questionnaires to their previous customers and also do in-person/face-to-face surveys.

I pretty much envision how this will go, GM will be bombarded with millions of tweets about accepting bitcoin, it will implement it, and then in one year they are going to see at best 10 sales in BTC and they will decide to close it down as there is no actual demand.

I completely agree with you, but I don't think there's any harm in keeping that option alive for potential buyers ^{[unless I'm missing something]}.
^{- Regardless of the demand, it's always better if they could offer more options for purchasing their cars.}

The other main point is with btc in their reserve they can make easy profits like Tesla did with selling 10% of their initial investment making millions.With this they don't need to make huge investment as they will get it in the form of payment from customers also.So it will be wise move on their part to consider this.

AFAIK, they never looked into the investment side of BTCitcoin...

This is great news for Bitcoin. We need to see how Bitcoin reacts to this!

It looks like it didn't have any impact