General Motors is open to Bitcoin Payments - GM CEO

General Motors – one of Tesla’s biggest competitors – has declared that although it won’t be investing in bitcoin as a digital asset anytime soon. However, it will closely monitor customer demand and will consider allowing items to be purchased through its company with BTC in the future.

General Motors and Bitcoin

General Motors CEO Mary Barra recently stated that the company “[doesn’t] have any plans to invest in Bitcoin, so full stop there.”

She continued: “This is something we’ll monitor, and we’ll evaluate, and if there’s strong customer demand for it in the future, there’s nothing that precludes us from doing that.”

In context, the latter half of Barra’s statement seems to suggest that the firm is examining Bitcoin’s potential as a means of payment.

Back in February, she said that her company would "continue evaluating" Bitcoin following Tesla's $1.5 billion bet on the largest cryptocurrency.

Tesla in fact made a U-Turn and suspended Bitcoin payments in May due to the cryptocurrency's CO2 footprint, triggering a massive crash. Earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk tweeted that a greener Bitcoin would allow the leading electric vehicle maker to resume them.

General Motors harbors plans to shift to a 100 percent Electric Vehicle product lineup by 2035, and Tesla giving Bitcoin another try just might inspire GM to follow its lead.

General Motors and Blockchain

The current position taken by the firm on Bitcoin seems to be in line with previous efforts. Aside from examining Bitcoin, General Motors has already filed for numerous blockchain patents. It is also part of the MOBI blockchain coalition, made up of several other car manufacturers.

Furthermore, GM has invested in at least one blockchain firm, Spring Labs, demonstrating that it is familiar with blockchain technology.