In an Australian first, Lloyds Auctions now accepts cryptocurrency payments on tens of thousands of its items each week.
Lloyds Auctions chief operations officer Lee Hames says that within hours of opening up this new cryptocurrency as payment option, a one hundred-thousand-dollar caravan was paid for entirely by crypto.
“Since then, we have had quite a bit of interest on our upcoming classic cars and earthmoving machinery auctions,” he says.
A statement from the custom-built caravan purchaser reads: “As a long-time patron of Lloyds I had no hesitation and couldn’t believe how simple it was for me to pay with cryptocurrency. The seller would have received it as cash and never known the difference.”
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by decentralised blockchain technology. While there have been plenty of ups and downs, the market has seen a recent drop in value.
“We have seen people using this as a way of divesting out of cryptocurrency and back into real life assets. As prices drop people are taking some profits off the table and transferring it to something like a classic car or bulldozer and putting it to work,” Lee adds.
“As one of Australia’s most trusted auction houses, we felt it very important to carefully put all of the right protocols and procedures into place. Now that we have invested into our proprietary IT systems, to make payment as simple as using a Visa or Mastercard, we’ve been amazed at how many regular mums and dads have an amount of crypto to spend.”
Lloyds have confirmed that purchases will of course be subject to identifying the bidder and complying with their ‘Know Your Customer’ protocols and Australian Law.
“It’s very easy for people to bid with Crypto Currency. We even have a dedicated hotline number you can call which is 1800 870 200 where we have seen enquiries pouring in,” according to Lee.
