Kevin Frye on Jeff Wyler Automotive’s first crypto car sale

In late April, the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family sold its first car using cryptocurrency at its Mercedes-Benz of Fort Mitchell dealership. According to a press release from the dealer group, the international client paid for his 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580 with Ethereum cryptocurrency. Today on Inside Automotive, Kevin Frye, Marketing Director at Jeff Wyler, discusses this unique transaction.

Jeff Wyler Automotive began exploring crypto payment options last year and launched the option for car buyers in February. Frye says the process is much simpler than car dealers think, and accepting crypto opens up many more payment channels for the convenience of customers. The dealer group uses a third-party exchange service to facilitate the transaction. So, Jeff Wyler never takes possession of the cryptocurrency, just the U.S. dollar amount.

From Frye’s perspective, the real challenge now is marketing the service and making customers aware that crypto is accepted. However, after circulating the press release online, Frye says more crypto car sale requests are coming in. Customers can choose to pay for their vehicle with 12 different types of cryptocurrency. They can also decide how much of the transaction they want complete with it. Jeff Wyler dealerships then generate an invoice and take possession of the funds in U.S. dollars over the next 24-48 hours. 

“We’re actually behind Europe,” explains Frye. “They are about a year to a year and a half ahead of us in accepting cryptocurrency for transactions. We’re always trying to innovate and be consumer-facing, and we felt this was a great match for the Jeff Wyler Automotive Group.”

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