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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: quone17 on February 20, 2014, 02:27:15 PM



Title: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: quone17 on February 20, 2014, 02:27:15 PM
Has anyone used it?  There is an article in the press section about the "first" Bitcoin ATM but not sure if this one was first or not.

http://www.boston.com/blogs/news/opinion/bostoncomment/2014/02/south_stations_bitcoin_atm_sign_of_things_to_come.html

What can I even do with it?  I'm a little embarrassed to be seen at it frankly, unless it becomes more popular.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: JammyDodger on February 20, 2014, 04:02:30 PM
The first bitcoin machine in the US was installed around 24 hours before this 1 in new Mexico. I'd have no problems using a bitcoin ATM, as long as the rates are good enough of course :)


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: adub on February 20, 2014, 06:03:13 PM
The first bitcoin machine in the US was installed around 24 hours before this 1 in new Mexico. I'd have no problems using a bitcoin ATM, as long as the rates are good enough of course :)

yep, enchanted Bitcoins first.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: govbtc on February 20, 2014, 06:31:51 PM
 ;D


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: AlexisR on February 20, 2014, 06:37:06 PM
Has anyone used it?  There is an article in the press section about the "first" Bitcoin ATM but not sure if this one was first or not.

http://www.boston.com/blogs/news/opinion/bostoncomment/2014/02/south_stations_bitcoin_atm_sign_of_things_to_come.html

What can I even do with it?  I'm a little embarrassed to be seen at it frankly, unless it becomes more popular.

Wow, that shows progress.. and in Boston?  I wonder how long it will be until we see one in every state. 



Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: DanielVG on February 20, 2014, 07:18:51 PM
any news about ATM's in europe?


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: cRazY dWarF on February 20, 2014, 09:55:32 PM
it will take time to spread all over the world... and at least you cannot rob it phisicaly :D


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: CJYP on February 21, 2014, 12:10:18 AM
Used it today.
It's really simple - you need a qr code corresponding to the address you want it sent to, and you need cash. They may ask for id if you buy more than a certain amount of $ worth of bitcoin - it was around $500. They asked me to fill out a form if I wanted to deposit that much (I didn't want to anyway, so I don't know what happens).
It pays a .0001 btc transaction fee, so it will get included in a block.
https://www.biteasy.com/blockchain/transactions/e6b847b5d21e3d52d3a58e16e6e1b8f1c9347ae1c09a2d73ad152dd582312a89


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: DrHerbSmoker on February 21, 2014, 12:38:57 AM
this is absolutly the best news ive had all day


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: erik777 on February 21, 2014, 03:31:58 AM
Used it today.
It's really simple - you need a qr code corresponding to the address you want it sent to, and you need cash. They may ask for id if you buy more than a certain amount of $ worth of bitcoin - it was around $500. They asked me to fill out a form if I wanted to deposit that much (I didn't want to anyway, so I don't know what happens).
It pays a .0001 btc transaction fee, so it will get included in a block.
https://www.biteasy.com/blockchain/transactions/e6b847b5d21e3d52d3a58e16e6e1b8f1c9347ae1c09a2d73ad152dd582312a89

What was their fee and exchange rate?


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: CJYP on February 21, 2014, 03:43:19 AM
Their exchange rate was $590 when I bought, while Coinbase was at $550. I have no way of knowing if that was just lag in changing their rate, or if that's how they make money. My guess would be the former because of how fast the rate was going down today (they probably use a 24 hour average or something), but it might be 50/50. The only fee they explicitly charged was the .0001 btc transaction fee.
EDIT - There may have been a small fee and I didn't notice - I honestly just wanted to deposit $20 to say that I did, and I was talking to the people who set it up the whole time, so I wasn't paying much attention.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Malexo on February 21, 2014, 04:32:06 AM
Ive actually been thinking about bitcoin investing and Im starting to think that investing in an ATM machine might make more fiscal sense than investing in mining gear.
im pretty much "IN" when it comes to mining and one could say im addicted to it, but at the same time, I think owning an ATM machine would be awesome (assuming you found a very secure location for it).

anyone know how to buy these?


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: li_ink on February 21, 2014, 09:01:22 AM
The first bitcoin machine in the US was installed around 24 hours before this 1 in new Mexico. I'd have no problems using a bitcoin ATM, as long as the rates are good enough of course :)

but the btc price continue go down  :(


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: pylOuf on February 21, 2014, 10:42:22 AM
ATM will be more and more popular!


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: tskweres on February 21, 2014, 11:02:26 AM
So awesome, can't wait to see these all over the states!


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: thecoinjournal on February 21, 2014, 11:08:35 AM
Has anybody tried?


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: grifferz on February 21, 2014, 11:22:37 AM
Has anybody tried?
The person 8 posts before yours?

Sheesh.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 12:29:13 PM
it will take time to spread all over the world... and at least you cannot rob it phisicaly :D

Sure you can rob it physically, remember the bitcoins are coming out, but the cash is going in.


 


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 12:41:04 PM
Their exchange rate was $590 when I bought, while Coinbase was at $550. I have no way of knowing if that was just lag in changing their rate, or if that's how they make money. My guess would be the former because of how fast the rate was going down today (they probably use a 24 hour average or something), but it might be 50/50. The only fee they explicitly charged was the .0001 btc transaction fee.
EDIT - There may have been a small fee and I didn't notice - I honestly just wanted to deposit $20 to say that I did, and I was talking to the people who set it up the whole time, so I wasn't paying much attention.


Coinbase btc price is highest in exchange market, and the atm is even higher, well for the difference in time it's a great deal




Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 12:42:09 PM
The first bitcoin machine in the US was installed around 24 hours before this 1 in new Mexico. I'd have no problems using a bitcoin ATM, as long as the rates are good enough of course :)

but the btc price continue go down  :(


that's where you want to buy -- low


don't be sad, just buy


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: CJYP on February 21, 2014, 12:52:27 PM
Their exchange rate was $590 when I bought, while Coinbase was at $550. I have no way of knowing if that was just lag in changing their rate, or if that's how they make money. My guess would be the former because of how fast the rate was going down today (they probably use a 24 hour average or something), but it might be 50/50. The only fee they explicitly charged was the .0001 btc transaction fee.
EDIT - There may have been a small fee and I didn't notice - I honestly just wanted to deposit $20 to say that I did, and I was talking to the people who set it up the whole time, so I wasn't paying much attention.


Coinbase btc price is highest in exchange market, and the atm is even higher, well for the difference in time it's a great deal




You usually wouldn't use it to invest serious money into bitcoin - just like you usually wouldn't use a regular atm to transact in large amounts of fiat.
The use case for this is, you're on the go and want to pay in bitcoin at one of the restaurants in Boston that accepts it (there are several). You don't have time to or can't get to wherever your bitcoins are stored, and you can't wait the amount of time it would take to get it out of an exchange. It might not be a common use case today, but it's necessary for bitcoin to become commonly used at local, physical shops.
When you're buying $20 of bitcoin every once in a while, $590 vs $550 really isn't that much - and they obviously have to make a profit somehow.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: kik1977 on February 21, 2014, 01:05:57 PM
Ive actually been thinking about bitcoin investing and Im starting to think that investing in an ATM machine might make more fiscal sense than investing in mining gear.
im pretty much "IN" when it comes to mining and one could say im addicted to it, but at the same time, I think owning an ATM machine would be awesome (assuming you found a very secure location for it).

anyone know how to buy these?

Here: https://lamassu.is/
But be aware, it's not a "real" ATM, since it doesn't allow BTC>FIAT, it's more like a vending machine. But who cares, I would love to have one close to me as well.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: kik1977 on February 21, 2014, 01:08:51 PM
Ive actually been thinking about bitcoin investing and Im starting to think that investing in an ATM machine might make more fiscal sense than investing in mining gear.
im pretty much "IN" when it comes to mining and one could say im addicted to it, but at the same time, I think owning an ATM machine would be awesome (assuming you found a very secure location for it).

anyone know how to buy these?

Here: https://lamassu.is/
But be aware, it's not a "real" ATM, since it doesn't allow BTC>FIAT, it's more like a vending machine. But who cares, I would love to have one close to me as well.

This is a "full" ATM: https://robocoinkiosk.com/


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: LiteCoinGuy on February 21, 2014, 01:11:02 PM
any news about ATM's in europe?

there are some. i heard about one in switzerland and eastern and north europe.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: kik1977 on February 21, 2014, 01:13:46 PM
any news about ATM's in europe?

there are some. i heard about one in Switzerland and eastern and north Europe.

The one in Switzerland was unfortunately just a show, to let it see to people, but I heard there are some in other countries like Finland (http://www.coindesk.com/europes-first-bitcoin-atm-installed-finland/)


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 02:07:03 PM
Their exchange rate was $590 when I bought, while Coinbase was at $550. I have no way of knowing if that was just lag in changing their rate, or if that's how they make money. My guess would be the former because of how fast the rate was going down today (they probably use a 24 hour average or something), but it might be 50/50. The only fee they explicitly charged was the .0001 btc transaction fee.
EDIT - There may have been a small fee and I didn't notice - I honestly just wanted to deposit $20 to say that I did, and I was talking to the people who set it up the whole time, so I wasn't paying much attention.


Coinbase btc price is highest in exchange market, and the atm is even higher, well for the difference in time it's a great deal




You usually wouldn't use it to invest serious money into bitcoin - just like you usually wouldn't use a regular atm to transact in large amounts of fiat.
The use case for this is, you're on the go and want to pay in bitcoin at one of the restaurants in Boston that accepts it (there are several). You don't have time to or can't get to wherever your bitcoins are stored, and you can't wait the amount of time it would take to get it out of an exchange. It might not be a common use case today, but it's necessary for bitcoin to become commonly used at local, physical shops.
When you're buying $20 of bitcoin every once in a while, $590 vs $550 really isn't that much - and they obviously have to make a profit somehow.

Think about what you just said.  "The use case for this is, you're on the go and want to pay in bitcoin at one of the restaurants in Boston that accepts it (there are several). You don't have time to or can't get to wherever your bitcoins are stored, and you can't wait the amount of time it would take to get it out of an exchange." 

Here are a couple options:

use the cash that you are putting in the machine,
or the credit card that you had intended to used in the first place when shopping.


who goes to a mall or a restaurant expecting to use btc, but forget's their btc so decides to do some banking to get some btc so that they would pay for the meal with btc?


 


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Jcw188 on February 21, 2014, 02:09:31 PM
Hmm so you can deposit cash into the machine and get bitcoin.  But can you change your bitcoin into cash and take out cash?  That's what I would expect from an "ATM", otherwise get a new word for it.  "Bitcoin buying station"  BBS


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 02:15:14 PM
Hmm so you can deposit cash into the machine and get bitcoin.  But can you change your bitcoin into cash and take out cash?  That's what I would expect from an "ATM", otherwise get a new word for it.  "Bitcoin buying station"  BBS

according to https://robocoinkiosk.com/" you can "sell" or buy btc with the machine


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 02:16:35 PM
bitcoin atm's, a hacker's DREAM


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: quone17 on February 21, 2014, 02:22:45 PM
I'd love to hear a testimonial of someone selling there.  I'd definitely try that out, if someone else tried it first (sorry I'm a wimp).


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: thatbluedude on February 21, 2014, 02:28:56 PM
it will take time to spread all over the world... and at least you cannot rob it phisicaly :D
I wonder when we will have the first irl fiat doublespend. buy bitcoins and then steal the atm with the cash.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Lauda on February 21, 2014, 02:39:44 PM
bitcoin atm's is a hackers DREAM
They aren't any less secure than other ATMs.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 02:47:10 PM
it will take time to spread all over the world... and at least you cannot rob it phisicaly :D
I wonder when we will have the first irl fiat doublespend. buy bitcoins and then steal the atm with the cash.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa

another piece of bitcoin history in the que


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 21, 2014, 02:50:14 PM
bitcoin atm's is a hackers DREAM
They aren't any less secure than other ATMs.

That may be true, however, the "real" atms are limited by the funds in them, where the btc atms funds are limited by the account balance funding the atm


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Lauda on February 21, 2014, 05:12:10 PM
That may be true, however, the "real" atms are limited by the funds in them, where the btc atms funds are limited by the account balance funding the atm
Which is essentially the same. Please re-read, re-think this.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: CJYP on February 21, 2014, 06:26:38 PM
Their exchange rate was $590 when I bought, while Coinbase was at $550. I have no way of knowing if that was just lag in changing their rate, or if that's how they make money. My guess would be the former because of how fast the rate was going down today (they probably use a 24 hour average or something), but it might be 50/50. The only fee they explicitly charged was the .0001 btc transaction fee.
EDIT - There may have been a small fee and I didn't notice - I honestly just wanted to deposit $20 to say that I did, and I was talking to the people who set it up the whole time, so I wasn't paying much attention.


Coinbase btc price is highest in exchange market, and the atm is even higher, well for the difference in time it's a great deal




You usually wouldn't use it to invest serious money into bitcoin - just like you usually wouldn't use a regular atm to transact in large amounts of fiat.
The use case for this is, you're on the go and want to pay in bitcoin at one of the restaurants in Boston that accepts it (there are several). You don't have time to or can't get to wherever your bitcoins are stored, and you can't wait the amount of time it would take to get it out of an exchange. It might not be a common use case today, but it's necessary for bitcoin to become commonly used at local, physical shops.
When you're buying $20 of bitcoin every once in a while, $590 vs $550 really isn't that much - and they obviously have to make a profit somehow.

Think about what you just said.  "The use case for this is, you're on the go and want to pay in bitcoin at one of the restaurants in Boston that accepts it (there are several). You don't have time to or can't get to wherever your bitcoins are stored, and you can't wait the amount of time it would take to get it out of an exchange." 

Here are a couple options:

use the cash that you are putting in the machine,
or the credit card that you had intended to used in the first place when shopping.


who goes to a mall or a restaurant expecting to use btc, but forget's their btc so decides to do some banking to get some btc so that they would pay for the meal with btc?


 


Well, for now it's more about the novelty. Maybe someone doesn't know much about bitcoin and doesn't have any. Without the ATM, they wouldn't have thought to use bitcoin at all - since it's there, they're curious and decide to try it.
In the coming years, if bitcoin gets more wide adoption, stores might offer a discount on bitcoin transactions because of the lower fee (bitcoin vs visa, obviously). If that happens, there will be plenty of reason to want to pay with bitcoin rather than cash. As for leaving your (not talking about you specifically) bitcoin home - of course that will happen. Maybe you didn't go out intending to pay in bitcoin. Maybe you spent whatever you had on your phone, but still want to buy something.

If you want to invest serious money into bitcoin at this atm, go ahead. I'll continue to use Coinbase.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: CJYP on February 22, 2014, 12:53:50 AM
IN THE COMING YEARS?  Whoever invests $5K in the machine, and perhaps another $50K in infrastructure for the thing is looking to make money now.    Given the spread that was mentioned above, there is lots of profit to be had with the thing. 
That's almost certainly not true. Anyone with that much money to invest is looking to make a large profit long term, not a small profit short term.
Of course, there is lots of profit to be had with the thing in the short term too, partially from being first to market and having no competition (they can charge more than market value), and partially from the fact that most of the users don't even know the regular exchange rate.

No, it's not a novelty and not for novices, its for people who have a btc wallet, btc address and QR code and cash for the smaller machine,  or all of that with or without the QR code but with a full palm print for the larger machine. 

If you don't have your phone you can't use the little machine.
Both of these are also untrue, at least for the machine in Boston (I don't know about any of the other ones). The people who put it in have been spending the past few days standing next to it, explaining how to use it. They were handing out paper wallets stocked with small amounts of free bitcoin, and a QR code so you can use the machine with it.

And it's certainly not just for novices. They were impressed at the fact that I had a phone wallet, and had a backup of the wallet I use to store my savings. They're clearly not catering to power users.


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: kik1977 on February 22, 2014, 11:39:56 AM
Hmm so you can deposit cash into the machine and get bitcoin.  But can you change your bitcoin into cash and take out cash?  That's what I would expect from an "ATM", otherwise get a new word for it.  "Bitcoin buying station"  BBS

You seriously took the time to post here without even reading 4 and 5 posts before your one, where the answer to your question is given? Seriously ???


Title: Re: Boston has a Bitcoin ATM
Post by: Armis on February 22, 2014, 12:08:04 PM
IN THE COMING YEARS?  Whoever invests $5K in the machine, and perhaps another $50K in infrastructure for the thing is looking to make money now.    Given the spread that was mentioned above, there is lots of profit to be had with the thing. 
That's almost certainly not true. Anyone with that much money to invest is looking to make a large profit long term, not a small profit short term.
Of course, there is lots of profit to be had with the thing in the short term too, partially from being first to market and having no competition (they can charge more than market value), and partially from the fact that most of the users don't even know the regular exchange rate.

No, it's not a novelty and not for novices, its for people who have a btc wallet, btc address and QR code and cash for the smaller machine,  or all of that with or without the QR code but with a full palm print for the larger machine. 

If you don't have your phone you can't use the little machine.
Both of these are also untrue, at least for the machine in Boston (I don't know about any of the other ones). The people who put it in have been spending the past few days standing next to it, explaining how to use it. They were handing out paper wallets stocked with small amounts of free bitcoin, and a QR code so you can use the machine with it.

And it's certainly not just for novices. They were impressed at the fact that I had a phone wallet, and had a backup of the wallet I use to store my savings. They're clearly not catering to power users.


The MACHINES are for people who are btc literate and btc wallets ready.   A promo with great media hype and a host of people selling, discounting, explaining, and demoing the product is not how things will normally occur -- every reasonable adult knows that. 

BTC is a complex currency, not to mention all of the other things one must reasonable do to safeguard their coin, if some had $1 worth of btc at the time of the promo, and went back there today in an effort to see their balance or anything else they could with the 'receipt' (paper wallet), if they were able to actually get that type of info out of the machine they would see a 30% reduction in value simply because of the market rates.   

I don't know what you mean by "power users" but my point is they are SHOULD not be seeing susie-shopper as their key demographic.   Their key demographic is the bitcoin savvy buyer, user, and trader who might travel miles to get a coin(s) immediately, even at that premium rate.