Tilman Fertitta says his luxury dealership has sold 17 cars for bitcoin

February 10, 2021: On Tuesday, Billionaire businessman Tilman Fertitta told CNBC that his luxury car dealership had sold more than a dozen vehicles for bitcoin since it started transactions using the digital currency nearly three years ago.

Fertitta’s comments on “Power Lunch” came the next day after Tesla announced plans of accepting bitcoin as payment for its products.

“Tesla taking it is much more important than me taking it, but believe it or not, we’ve sold 17 cars, which include Bentleys and Rolls-Royces with bitcoin,” said Fertitta, who also runs a big hospitality empire as chairman and CEO of Houston-based Landry’s Inc.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Fertitta’s Post Oak Motor Cars first began to accept bitcoin in 2018, but the idea of taking bitcoin transactions came from his team of employees.

 “We’ve always spoken about being innovative and ahead of everybody else, and don’t be a dinosaur around here, or you won’t last,” Fertitta said.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value has seen its price go higher after the Tesla news became public. It traded over $47,000 per coin Tuesday afternoon.

When the dealership of Fertitta adopted bitcoin for transactions, the volatile digital coin traded about $6,000 to $7,000 apiece. It was in between of a roughly yearlong backslide, falling down by $4,000 in December 2018. Bitcoin’s price had gone just below $20,000 by December 2017.

Bitcoin started a robust rally last year, breaking past its 2017 high in late November. Several factors have been attributed to the digital coin’s big run, including high-profile investors adopting, who touted its potential as a hedge against inflation.

Well Established companies like PayPal also entered the crypto space, and some suggest that institutional adoption has helped fuel bitcoin’s upside move.

The adoption of Tesla provides “powerful endorsements” for bitcoin as a store of value, and as a means of payment, Allianz chief economic advisor Mohamed El-Erian says CNBC on Monday.