A couple weeks ago Josh Gillis was looking to trade in his old SUV for a new truck.
He wanted something that could fit his family more comfortably than his SUV, so he went to Jake McGill, owner of North Mississippi Auto, to solve the problem.
After finding the right fit, the two got down to the details of the trade-in for a new truck when Gillis asked McGill something unexpected about paying the difference.
“I was like, ‘Well, whatever the difference is, would you care if I paid partially with Bitcoin?’” said Gillis, owner of Catfish Alley Studio.
The parties agreed, and Gillis came to the dealership Tuesday to transfer $1,000 of Bitcoin to McGill to cover part of the remaining cost after trading in his SUV.
Cryptocurrency is a mostly unregulated digital currency that is separate from a government-backed currency, like the dollar. These currencies are held in digital wallets and are used for transactions, which are publicly and permanently recorded using what is called a blockchain.
McGill said the transaction Tuesday was the first time the dealership had accepted cryptocurrency of any kind. He agreed to the deal because he wants the dealership to be ready for customers that prefer non-traditional payment methods.
While he had only dabbled with cryptocurrency before Tuesday’s transaction, McGill said the dealership will continue accepting cryptocurrencies to reach a wider audience of potential customers.
“I know a lot of people have their money in crypto now,” McGill said. “If that’s what you’ve got, bring it on down here, we can take it just the same as we can cash.”
The transaction required the dealership to set up a virtual wallet to accept the Bitcoin transfer as partial payment, McGill said.
Transferring the Bitcoin functioned similarly to other virtual payments methods, like Venmo or Cashapp, except that it was with cryptocurrency rather than money.
Gillis had tried previously to do a similar deal for a car at another dealership but the deal ended once he brought up the possibility, he said.
“I actually offered to do this to a dealership four years ago, but they looked at me like I was an alien,” he said.
‘It’s still the Wild West in some ways’
Bitcoin allows two parties to exchange a digital currency, removing the inclusion of a third-party entity like banks and credit card companies. It is not insured by the government in the same way U.S. dollars deposited into an FDIC insured bank account would be, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Gillis has been interested in virtual currencies and digital assets since about 2021 and is looking into ways to potentially incorporate them at Catfish Alley Studio along with his use in his personal life, he said.
“I’m always trying to experiment, try new things, and this is just a way that I could see in the future things being done,” Gillis said. “So, might as well try it locally, and try to get other businesses to experiment and try with me.”
Gillis only used Bitcoin to cover $1,000 worth of the remaining cost leftover from his trade-in to keep the currency at an amount that was “low risk to the dealership,” he said.
Cryptocurrencies can be more volatile than traditional investments. Bitcoin has fluctuated in value passing $100,000 per “coin” earlier this year after dropping below $17,000 in 2022 after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, according to the Associated Press. One Bitcoin was worth $116,842 as of press time. Holders of Bitcoin are able to transfer fractions of a single Bitcoin.
Gillis and McGill’s transaction is abnormal since most investors use Bitcoin as a store of value – similar to gold – instead of commercial transactions, according to multiple studies.
“He could take the money in Bitcoin today and if he doesn’t cash out it could go back to zero,” Gillis said. “And that’s just the risk you take. I mean, it’s still the Wild West in some ways.”
With the transaction, Gillis hopes to increase local awareness around cryptocurrencies and normalize using Bitcoin.
“It’s got to start somewhere at some point,” Gillis said. “… It’s kind of a joke that Columbus is always five or six years behind the times, and so now we’re just trying to kind of get ahead of the times a little bit, and especially with all the investment … as far as a lot of big things happening with investments in AI for our state, this is just another way to move some of those things forward.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
