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The development of the Bitcoin ecosystem is essential for its future. This includes the acceptance of companies to accept payments in BTC and the establishment of adequate structures. Recently, the CEO of General Motors opened the door to Bitcoin payments.
As a major player in its field, you can hardly do better than General Motors (GM)! The American automotive group brings together under its banner the well-known brands of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac. In terms of the number of vehicles sold, the GM group is regularly in the top 5 worldwide.
A significant statement was made on Wednesday June 16, 2021 when Mary Barra, the CEO of the GM group, gave an interview to CNBC. The host asked her if the group would be willing to accept payments in Bitcoin. To the delight of the cryptosphere, Mary Barra was not dogmatic on the subject and even opened the door a bit to this possibility. For her, it all depends in fact on customer demand.
“There is nothing stopping us from doing it [referring to Bitcoin payments]. We will be guided by the demand of our customers. In this case, we will do what is necessary to simplify the purchase and ownership process as much as possible. We will follow what they [customers] tell us to do. “Mary Barra, GM Group CEO
This statement by Mary Barra is all the more interesting when put in perspective with what she said at the time that the automaker Tesla had allowed Bitcoin payments.
Last February, the American carmaker (through Elon Musk) surprised everyone by declaring that it would now accept payments in Bitcoin.
At the time, GM’s CEO immediately rejected the idea of doing the same. These recent statements to CNBC show a certain inflection in her position.
Since its announcement, Tesla has backtracked somewhat. At first, it said it would not accept Bitcoin payments for environmental reasons. Then, more recently, Elon Musk reopened the door to Bitcoin payments if 50% of the energy used for mining came from renewables.