Luxury auto dealer Exclusive Automotive Group (EAG) has teamed with BitPay to accept cryptocurrency payments.
The Virginia-based dealer — which calls itself the mid-Atlantic region’s exclusive seller for brands like Bentley and Aston Martin — says the partnership lets it attract new customers and tap into the growing crypto market, according to a news release sent to PYMNTS Wednesday (Nov. 30).
“Luxury goods is one of the fastest growing segments for crypto purchases through BitPay and high-end autos are very popular,” BitPay Vice president of Marketing Merrick Theobald said in the release.
“Exclusive Automotive Group realizes the potential for crypto to transform the car market, and their leadership will help accelerate mass adoption of cryptocurrency in their industry.”
As we have reported this year, there is evidence that cryptocurrency is popular with a higher-income demographic.
Despite an uncertain economy and a 65% decline in bitcoin’s price, “we have seen a pretty significant increase in spending patterns for high-ticket luxury items,” BitPay Chief Financial Officer Jagruti Solanki told PYMNTS in August.
“Those continue to be popular, and there are customers out there who are looking to pay in crypto for those high-ticket items.”
And that lines up with PYMNTS research into consumer crypto use, which shows that while 28% of consumers had a positive view of crypto as a payment method, that number climbed to 32% among high-income consumers and 48% among millennials.
This year also saw Motorenn, an automotive eCommerce startup that deals in luxury, exotic and premium used vehicles, also begin accepting cryptocurrency, once again with the help of BitPay. As PYMNTS reported, the move was a response to customer requests and the retailer’s desire to simplify all aspects of the transaction.
“It’s one of our core beliefs that we want to make the process as informed and easy as possible, and leverage technology every step of the way to do that,” David Chou, CEO of Motorenn, told PYMNTS. “Part of that is making the payment component as easy as possible in the way that the consumer wants to transact.”
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