CARY, N.C. -

“I would like to buy a car with bitcoin.”

The majority of dealers and their sales staff likely have not heard those words from a customer. At least, not yet. The global emergence of cryptocurrencies in the last five years has brought to question one serious issue: what can be accepted as money?

Is it an item the government declares has value? Is it backed by a finite resource?

Arguably, the answer to that question, boiled down, is that currency is anything that someone believes is valuable. And some people, around the world, have expressed that belief and invested their faith in bitcoin.

The reality is, at the time of this writing in mid-September, bitcoin is trading at a value of roughly $475 per unit, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. After years of exchange, the value has fluctuated violently between $0 and $1,200 per unit, but appears to be stabilizing throughout this year.

Bitcoin has produced millionaires who bought into the cryptocurrency in its infancy — and many of those people want to buy your cars.

BitPay, Atlanta’s own bitcoin merchant processing and services provider, is one of a growing number of institutions that have seen the potential in bitcoin and have decided to facilitate merchant transactions for those businesses opening their doors (and their computers) to sell goods in exchange for bitcoin.

In short, BitPay converts bitcoin to any of nine different currencies requested by the merchant.

Stephanie Wargo, BitPay’s vice president of marketing, took the time to speak with Auto Remarketing about this “cash for the Internet” and explained the current demographic that are out buying cars with bitcoin.

“Right now it is the early adopters into bitcoin, that have now turned into bitcoin millionaires, that are buying the Lamborghinis and the Teslas and the Land Rovers and those,” Wargo said. “But I think as bitcoin continues to become more mainstream, you’re going to kind of get that next level.”

According to Wargo, the bulk of purchases made with bitcoin via her company have been for consumer electronics. BitPay has, however, been processing larger purchases. With millions in sales for houses and a handful of dealers’ car sales under their belt, the company is gaining traction as the bitcoin currency continues to find its own. You can even buy a trip to space for $250,000, or roughly 526 bitcoins, through one of BitPay’s clients, Virgin Galactic.

So how exactly does car purchasing work through a service like BitPay’s? Much like a traditional credit card transaction.

Wargo explained that a customer would walk in and then, “from a dealer standpoint, on a face-to-face purchase, we would set them up really quickly with a point-of-sale system off of an iPad or tablet or phone.”

She added: “They would put in the dollar amount; we would do the transaction in bitcoin. We would show the current rate. The consumer would have 15 minutes to complete that transaction in the dealership and push the money from their bitcoin wallet through.

“The dealer knows right then and there that this is approved; the money’s been sent; the money will show up in their bank account the next day. And we guarantee the transaction once we confirm.”

The risk taken on working with bitcoin, at least with BitPay, is only as big as the dealer wants it to be. With BitPay’s free service, a dealer can have 100 percent of the bitcoin from the sales transaction converted into their native fiat currency. Or they can choose to receive it all in bitcoin. Or any percentage in between.

For those concerned with the legality of dealing with bitcoin, rest assured that, although it is not our nation’s official currency, it is still legal. As of March 25, the IRS ruled that bitcoin will be taxed as property and subject to capital gains tax. For more information on what you need to do to prepare yourself for handling your own bitcoin funds, follow us online for an update to this story.