Use Your Bitcoin to Buy a Car — Without Selling

Imagine driving off in your dream car that you've purchased using your Bitcoin without selling a single sat (a sat is a subunit of bitcoin. 1 Bitcoin is equal to 100 million sats). This is possible with Bitcoin-backed loans. With Bitcoin-backed loans, you can use your Bitcoin as collateral to secure a car loan, keeping your Bitcoin stack intact. Imagine no credit scores, no credit history checks, no length forms and waiting times of traditional banking. Also, no monthly payments. Just one lump sum payment at the end of the loan period.

Why traditional car loans don’t work for Bitcoiners

Traditional car loans are not easy in many instances. Banks demand credit checks, income verification, and endless paperwork. Also, it involves monthly repayments; often times missing one of these can trigger penalties and higher fees.

For Bitcoiners who value self-sovereignty and decentralization, this can feel like stepping into a restrictive financial cage. Plus, selling your Bitcoin to buy a car means losing your position in a volatile market — potentially missing out on future gains.

As noted in book Bitcoin: The Ultimate Collateral, rich people — and savvy Bitcoiners — never sell their assets; they leverage them to unlock value.

A Bitcoin-backed loan works on this same concept. You don’t need to liquidate your holdings (sats) or deal with nosy banks. Instead, you use your Bitcoin as collateral to borrow fiat for your car, keeping your stack secure. What's more, in most instances, repayment is at the end of the tenure.

How a Bitcoin-backed loan lets you keep your stack

Here’s the magic of a car loan with Bitcoin: On a platform like Firefish, you lock your Bitcoin in a secure multi-sig escrow (non custodial), borrow the fiat you need, repay the loan at the end of the tenure, and get back your Bitcoin. Your Bitcoin stays untouched.

It works like this:

1. Deposit Bitcoin: Transfer your Bitcoin to a secure escrow using multisig wallets for added protection—requiring multiple keys to authorize transactions, ensuring no single party can access your funds unilaterally.

2. Get Fiat: Receive a loan in EUR, USDC or your local currency to buy the car with flexible terms and market-driven interest rates. On a platform like Firefish, you set the loan terms including the interest rate you wish to pay.

3. Repay at end of the tenure: Pay back the loan on flexible terms while your Bitcoin remains safe.

4. Retrieve your Bitcoin: Once the loan is repaid, your Bitcoin is returned to you.

As explained in the book Bitcoin: The Ultimate Collateral, Bitcoin's finite supply (only 21 million ever) and decentralized nature make it the "ultimate collateral," immune to counterfeiting and debasement. Read more here.

This process lets you use the funds to buy a car with Bitcoin’s value without selling it. No need to cash out and trigger taxable events or miss out on potential Bitcoin price surges.

No banks, no credit score — Just Bitcoin and escrow

Forget credit scores and bank approvals. Get a Bitcoin loan to purchase your car relies on the value of your Bitcoin, not your credit history. This is a huge win for Bitcoiners who prioritize financial sovereignty.

The escrow system ensures minimized trust: your Bitcoin is held securely in multisig setups, and the lender (on a peer-to-peer marketplace like Firefish) knows the loan is backed by real value. It’s a decentralized, transparent way to get liquidity without middlemen.

Real-world use case

Meet Alex, a Bitcoiner who wanted a Tesla Model Y Long Range, priced at $49,630. Of course, he didn’t want to sell his Bitcoin.

Using a Bitcoin-backed loan platform that works with a 50% LTV (Loan-to-value), Alex deposits approximately 0.85 BTC (let's assume for the sake of this case, Bitcoin trades around $120000) into a secure escrow, and borrows $49,630 to cover the car’s cost.

He’s take a 24-month loan which requires no monthly installments and only one final payment at the end of the 2-year period (loaned amount + interest accrued). His Bitcoin remains untouched in escrow. If Bitcoin’s price surges, Alex benefits from the appreciation.

It’s a win-win: Alex enjoys his Tesla Model Y and keeps his Bitcoin stack intact.

Get the Car. Keep Your Bitcoin.

A Bitcoin-backed loan is your ticket to financial freedom. Use your Bitcoin to unlock the value you need, without sacrificing your long-term investment or financial future. As has been said, "Bitcoin is not just the best option, but the only option for collateral in the modern financial era."

Explore our blog to learn more and check out platforms like Firefish for non-custodial options. Get the car. Keep your Bitcoin.