The crypto currency boom is creating a new gilded generation of super wealthy individuals who were savvy enough to snap up Bitcoin early on. Now these fortunate sons and daughters of the virtual currency age are faced with a gigantic, unsympathetic problem: How to spend their wealth?
The London-based service has connected with auto dealers in the U.S. and Europe to sell Lamborghinis for Bitcoin and Ethereum. For those who did not jump into the Bitcoin frenzy early enough, it may be disheartening to see that a Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 SuperLeggera Coupe costs a mere 9.72 Bitcoins (or $170,000).
Moonlambos cofounder Ivan Soto-Wright says he sees the service as a first step toward offering a much larger range of ecommerce options to this new class of consumers.
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“I know a lot of traders who got in early, and a lot of them are really concerned about how to liquidate that,” he said. “We want to facilitate a solution to a key problem, which is how do you spend it?”
Moonlambos is a new project recently launched by a larger initiative called HODL. Soto-Wright explained that HODL is trying to take a more holistic approach to the cryptocurrency ecosystem by creating a VC fund and launching its own Eltcoin currency. It’s also developing a new virtual currency wallet called Apollo.
But along the way, Soto-Wright said he started hearing more and more questions about how to convert virtual currency into real-world assets.
Anyone who comes into sudden wealth faces a host of challenges in terms of how to spend or save or diversify their fortune. But holders of virtual currency face a couple of particular twists.
First, the increase in the price of Bitcoin has raced far ahead of its utility in the real world. While there’s been a steady expansion in the number of merchants who accept Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, that number remains limited. And second, while no one can say for sure whether Bitcoin is really in a speculative bubble, any financial advisor would recommend liquidating at least some portion of those Bitcoins to hedge against any crash.
While Soto-Wright is interested in that larger ecommerce opportunity for virtual currencies, he also noticed that two of the most common phrases used in various crypto chat rooms were “going to the moon” and “Lamborghini.” Thus, Moonlambos. Though the moon trips remain unlikely for now.
He recognizes that using Lamborghinis to solve this new “problem” of the super rich will be amusing to segments of the general public.
“It’s kind of a fun project,” he said. “It puts a smile on people’s faces.”
In keeping with that spirit, the team decided to promote Moonlambos this week by borrowing two Lamborghinis, renting some Star Wars costumes, and crashing the London premiere of The Last Jedi.
But the overall thrust of HODL is a serious one, as it continues to focus on VC investments and expanding into new crypto products. Early next year, Moonlambos will a hold a blockchain “Initial Lambo Offering,” or “ILO.” This fundraiser will give away a 25th Anniversary Lamborghini Contauch to one lucky investor.
And the rest of the non-Bitcoin-holding world will continue to watch from the sidelines with a mixture of envy and regret.
