Dealer’s sale of used car illustrates process
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. — Bitcoins can buy you a TAG Heuer watch, a cross-country flight or a meatball marinara sub. But really, how does it work?
Purchases with bitcoin and other digital currencies remain rare relative to those with cash and credit cards. Many bitcoin holders value it more as an investment than a day-to-day currency.
And the complex workings behind the notoriously volatile currency can be offputting to neophytes. What are the fees? Are there taxes? How do you spend a currency that can devalue dramatically between ordering appetizers and paying the check?
Buying with bitcoin can be as easy as tapping your phone, although there are cautions. A look at a single bitcoin transaction, the sale of a 2017 Subaru from an upstate New York car dealer to a buyer from Virginia:
In business with bitcoin
Eugene Rubinchuk didn’t get into digital currency for the anonymity or to strike a blow against centralized banking. He was just looking for more business.
Rubinchuk and his father, who goes by “Mike the Russian,” already ham it up in local TV commercials for Michael’s Auto Plaza wearing furry hats. Digital currency is just another potential edge.
“It’s just a way to reach customers we normally couldn’t reach, that normally wouldn’t think of us,” he said.
“If you’re thinking about paying for coffee in bitcoin, that’s not what it’s good at right now. Things can change.”
Christian Catalini, founder of MIT’s Cryptoeconomics Lab