Ferrari (RACE.MI) has started accepting payments in cryptocurrency for its luxury sports cars in the United States, and has expanded the plan to Europe in line with demands from its wealthy customers, its marketing and trading chief told Reuters. He said he would expand it to .

Ferrari said the decision came in response to demands from the market and dealers, as many of its customers invest in crypto.

“Some of them are young investors who are building their wealth around cryptocurrencies,” he said. “Some are more traditional investors looking to diversify their portfolios.”

Ferrari shipped more than 1,800 cars to the American region, including the United States, in the first half of this year.

Galliera did not say how many cars Ferrari expects to sell via crypto. He said the company's order portfolio is strong and fully booked through 2025, but the company wants to test this expanding universe.

"The interest is the same in the US and Europe, we don't see huge differences," Galliera said.

Ferrari has turned to BitPay, one of the largest cryptocurrency payment processors, for the first phase in the US and will allow transactions with Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC, one of the largest stablecoins. Ferrari may use other payment processors in different regions.

“If you pay via cryptocurrencies, prices will not change, there will be no fees or surcharges,” Galliera said.

Bitpay will instantly convert cryptocurrency payments into traditional currency on behalf of Ferrari dealers, so they will be protected from price fluctuations.

"This was one of our main goals: to avoid dealing directly with cryptocurrencies, both our dealers' and ours, and to hedge against their wide fluctuations," Galliera said. said.

Ferrari's marketing and commercial chief said the majority of U.S. dealers have already signed up to the plan or are about to.

source: Reuters