There are many reasons why people invest in cryptocurrency and need a dedicated card to help them easily buy, sell and trade on exchanges between wallets and fiat accounts, but for some, there is a similar glimmer of hope that trading in the right token at the right time will help make them a fortune.
If they manage it, navigating volatility, gradually trading up and building a successful portfolio, they can have the same trappings of wealth someone who makes a killing on the stock market can, and perhaps buy for themselves a token of that success.
One way to show off your wealth is an expensive car, and with Automobili Lamborghini amongst the most expensive car brands money can buy, the question of why crypto traders, investors and speculators talk about “Lambos” so much is simple.
However, there is a lot more that connects an Italian hypercar company formed in 1963 as a challenge to the hegemonic domination of Ferrari to a decentralised form of finance designed as
a challenge to the hegemonic domination of the banking system than you might think.
Part of it is ideological, part of it is an attitude to wealth and part of it is historical.
When Lambo?
In the early days of Bitcoin, the phrase “When Lambo?” and various permutations thereof were common albeit somewhat ironic during a time when Bitcoin was with a few dollars compared to the modern surge of the market where a single Bitcoin is worth nearly $70,000 as of June 2024.
In this context, “When Lambo?” simply was asking the question of when prices were going to shoot up to the point that they could afford a Lamborghini car, much like the similarly memetic “When moon?” question for people only looking for a token’s peak.
In 2015, Peter Saddington of the car website VinWiki bought a then-new Huracan worth $200,000 with 45 Bitcoin, which cost him $115 when he bought them and is worth over $3m today.
Much like how Bitcoin Pizza Day was a watershed moment by showing that Bitcoin was not just a conceptual form of currency you could stack up and pass around but actually possessed enough value, however speculative, to buy a tangible product, the Lambo moment showed that Bitcoin had made it, bringing crypto as a whole with it.
The appeal of Lamborghinis to the crypto community was such that some dealerships accept payments in crypto directly, rather than converting existing supplies into fiat currency.
By 2018, after another surge in Bitcoin prices, Lambos had become such a symbol of crypto that three were parked outside of the Consensus Investment Conference, and the previous peak in crypto in 2021 happened to coincide with record sales.
Whilst other car manufacturers such as Tesla also saw a crypto-based boost in sales, Lamborghini’s success seemed tied to crypto in a way a lot of other companies were not. Why is this?
Why Lambo?
It is easy to simply dismiss the question of why Lambos in particular became a symbol of crypto by noting the huge cost of their supercar models and noting that it is just a matter of it being a big ticket item.
Cryptocurrency’s volatility and the transaction fees involved in using a token are less of a problem for bigger purchases than, for example, fast food, so both buyers and sellers are more willing to buy an expensive car with it, but there is more than just money involved.
Expensive cars have always been a symbol of success, and there is something of an irony that whilst in the 1980s Ferrari (at the time owned by Fiat Cars, ironically) was the vehicle of choice for high-powered executives, its biggest rival has become the face of crypto.
Part of it is that Lamborghinis are not only expensive but look expensive as well, with outlandish, dramatic and immediately identifiable designs and silhouettes that look futuristic and reflect a very nouveau riche and forward-thinking look at finance.
A Lambo is a statement piece, much like an expensive watch, and because the association within the community is so strong, Lamborghinis are increasingly becoming marketing tools for what the success of trading can get you if you play your cards right.
As well as this, because the crypto market has largely shifted towards becoming a more speculative asset, it has become an acceptable splurge, since if you are cashing out some of your investment now to buy an expensive car, there is a commitment to cryptocurrency specifically and decentralised finance as a whole.