A Brazilian is wanted in Mato Grosso do Sul after buying a BMW with bitcoin payment, but disappearing after the negotiation. The seller then went to court to seek payment, which to this day would not have materialized. The BMW 325i Ph11 model currently has its value on the Fipe table at R$ 72 thousand, but at the time the negotiation was carried out, the price agreed between the parties was only R$ 70 thousand. That is, the car has appreciated in recent years, as well as bitcoin, showing that the seller’s loss may have been double. It is worth mentioning that BMW is a German company recognized for the production of several luxury cars, appreciated all over the world.
BMW and bitcoin
A case that has been pending in the courts of Mato Grosso do Sul since August 2017 drew attention this Friday (29), after having repercussions on a summons notice. That’s because, the case tells the story of a purchase and sale totally messed up with bitcoin, a digital currency that has grown as a means of payment around the world. This currency is preferred by many people, as it has no intermediaries and, after the transaction is carried out, it is final. That way, even if a scammer does the transfer of values and asks for a chargeback, it doesn’t exist in the most secure blockchain network in the world. However, the blow suffered by a seller shows the danger of accepting the payment method without due care. That’s because, a man called a car salesman at a hotel where he was attending an event and proposed to buy a BMW in cash with bitcoin payment. By the time the seller arrived at the scene, the buyer said that he would make the payment, but that the car should be transferred to his partner who was accompanying him. The seller was surprised by the situation, but ended up agreeing to the terms and delivered the vehicle. In May of that year, the price went from US$ 1,450.00 per coin to US$ 2,329.00, an expressive appreciation that preceded a high that reached US$ 20 thousand in December 2017. As the Dollar was worth R$ 3, 23 on average, the price of bitcoin had not yet exceeded R$ 10 thousand in Brazil, that is, it is likely that the payment would be 7 BTCs for the vehicle. Considering the price of bitcoin in Real today, these seven coins would be worth R$ 1.340 million if the seller had received and kept the value. And the problem is precisely that, since the seller has been claiming since August 2017 that he did not receive his promised payment, appealing to the courts. This Friday, the judge handling the case said that the BMW buyer is in an uncertain and unknown location, and must appear to respond to the case.
How could the seller have avoided the scam?
As bitcoin is a currency that does not allow chargeback, the seller could have created a wallet and only delivered the car after receiving and validating the transaction in his wallet, with at least six confirmations on the network. Only that would give you safe possession of the coins and one more blow would be avoided. In addition, he could have used some “escrow” to make the transaction possible if he had wanted to have the car delivered earlier, so that the value would be retained with a third party trusted by both parties. Another possibility is to carry out test transactions beforehand to avoid scams with cryptocurrencies, not store values in brokerages and not use devices infected with malware, as stated by PROTESTE Magazine in recent days. It is worth remembering that the case shows the importance of studying the basics before adhering to new financial technologies, not just cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. In other words, how to safely create a bitcoin wallet to accept this payment method that grows every day.
