Whales can now use Bitcoin to purchase private jets

A private aircraft sales company has started allowing customers to purchase any of their multi-million dollar jets using Bitcoin.

According to a Sept. 13 report from news outlet Business Insider, U.S.-based Aviatrade is currently selling an upgraded 2014 Gulfstream G650ER for $40 million — roughly 3,750 Bitcoin (BTC) as of this writing. Billionaires including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly own the same model, which is capable of traveling up to 7,500 nautical miles, or roughly the distance between Los Angeles and Sydney.

"We accept Bitcoin as payment for all bizjet [business jet] purchases,” states Aviatrade’s website.

Aviatrade president Philip Rushton said that using fiat to purchase a private aircraft would be subject to cross-border restrictions in some countries. Cryptocurrencies, it seems, may offer less regulatory oversight for now.

The company does not name specific prices for any of its aircraft, but crypto traders don’t have to “settle” for the Gulfstream. Aviatrade currently lists 13 other private business jets for sale, including two Bombardier Global 7500s. As of June 2019, these were valued at $72.8 million, or more than 6,800 BTC.

The aircraft sales company is not the first to accept crypto. In June, Kaizen Aerospace chairman Fabrizio Poli announced in an interview with Bitcoin educator Andreas Antonopoulos that Kaizen would “take payments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies” for its charter and cargo services or to purchase a private jet.

Antonopoulos compared the sales of multi-million dollar aircraft to the time he sold a Mini Cooper for crypto:

“They did a quick test drive,” said the Bitcoin educator. “By the time they came back, I signed the title and had perfect certainty that the money I received was real, unforgeable, and that it was fully mine and could not be taken back, so it made that kind of transaction very easy. I can see that easily translating into the purchase or sale of an aircraft.”