Bitcoin Forum

Hey, it's Bitrawr. I've been following the Bitcoin ATM landscape for a while now and recently drew attention to the latest figures.

The number of Bitcoin ATMs from September 2016 to September 2019 has increased by over 500%. As of now, there are currently 5,457 Bitcoin ATMs globally. I believe that this is indicative of the strong demand for anonymously transacting between fiat/bitcoin.

https://twitter.com/bitrawr/status/1174682600834764803

If your statistical data is true and valid then perhaps we can make some assumptions that those bitcoin atms were installed in big cities especially located on the first world countries. On third world countries there are less number of machines some have one or 2 compared to first world countries. I guess it is the United States of America that has the majority of bitcoin atms in the world. Let us take note Las Vegas the gambling capital of the world have a good number of bitcoin atm machines and most of it were owned by the former heavy weight boxing champion who is no other than Mike Tyson who has branded 100 bitcoin atms on the different parts of USA especially Las Vegas.

This doesn't mean Bitcoin is mass adopted yet man, probably some bank taking advantage of crypto that's all.
As long as we're under like -5% of the whole population who knows about Bitcoin & crypto, nothing is gonna change any soon.
We need at least 10% + of the worldwide population to know about Bitcoin & cryto.

It's great if the number of bitcoin ATMs are increasing globally! But that certainly doesn't mean the adoption of bitcoin is also increasing! The kind of premium every ATM charges, is astronomical! I personally prefer p2p transaction over crypto ATM!

However, the increasing number of crypto ATMs are actually good for bitcoin promotion. It will make a lot of local people intrigued about bitcoin and some of them will actually go ahead to search about it or ask others which in turn increase the awareness about bitcoin!

Its a good thing that news is spreading and also to show that some capital expenditure is also being incurred in the industry so also is the collaboration borne out of research between crypto and fiat for the use of ATM to have increased significantly in a period of three years and its something to rejoice about. Although, I have not seen the machine in my current country of residence but I am hopeful that one day it will get here. That aside, there is also the need to discuss the sustainability of such endeavor considering the discount of selling by an individual and the premium on buying which I believe would be higher taking into consideration the cost of installing and maintaining the ATM machines compared to various peer to peer sites that we have abound where payment or sale can be done from the comfort of your phones.

That really isn't a lot.  It wouldn't even be a lot if they were all located in the US, which they're not.  I'll have to search for a map of where they all are--I think such a thing exists, because I think someone linked to a map once.  There isn't a bitcoin ATM anywhere near me as far as I know, and I don't exactly live out in the woods.

I'd agree with that, though I'm not sure if that anonymity is worth the markups I've heard about with ATMs.  But I'll tell you, if there was one near me I'd probably use it if the fees weren't outrageous.  Beats doing PayPal deals or doing KYC on an exchange.

It doesn't, and I don't mean to be negative about OP's assertion.  I think it's great that bitcoin ATMs exist and I think there ought to be more of them--but my guess is that the reason there aren't is because the demand for them isn't there.  If they were being used extensively, they'd be all over the place.  

Edit:  Holy crap!  I just checked coinatmradar.com, and there is one right near me.  I'm definitely going to check it out--very cool!

If you're actually following stuff concerning bitcoin ATMs for a while already, do you mind answering a question I've had in mind for a while already? - What demographic of people are bitcoin ATM companies are mostly targeting? Is it the people who use ATMs for privacy purposes? Is it the people who don't know that exchanges like Coinbase exists whereas they could buy coins for cheaper? or is it for people who are new to bitcoin who are buying small amounts of bitcoin through ATMs just to test things out?

According to me, even if what you said is true it won't make much of a difference since bitcoin is more of an online payment method.
The world itself is going for digitization by providing various means of online payments. Hence increasing the number of ATMs won't increase bitcoin utilization much.

Not sure BTC ATMs are really a case of supply. I've seen quite a few of the machines and pass by 1 almost daily. Never seen any customer. Never.

I do know a coworker who sells his weekly wages only because he needs it quick, and he's in the US so can't legitimately use p2p. But other than in the US, there can't be that much demand when you get far better rates almost every other method, can there?

Easy as at best, it feels good to know that there more btc atm's around even though most are located in more developed countries, still it shows that anyone can easily buy btc or sell at their convenience, it could also bring an indirect awareness among non btc users, many will see it and would want to find out more or even try it out, you never know.

Update:  after making my previous post in this thread, I took a ride to the one and only bitcoin ATM in my city--and the closest one within about 20 miles.  It's located in the back of a liquor store.  I went there with some $20 bills, ready to purchase some bitcoin, even though they were asking over $10k/BTC.  I did the SMS verification thing and then tried to scan my ID.  The first time the photo was blurry so I tried to cancel it:

NETWORK ERROR

I started the entire process all over again, with the SMS and the photo scan.  I managed to get a reasonably decent shot of my ID, but when after it asked for a scan of the back side of the ID:

NETWORK ERROR

Again, I tried it.  Got to the backside of the ID and:

NETWORK ERROR

A cute girl who worked there came over and looked at what I was doing and mentioned to her boss that I was having trouble.  I heard him say "Yeah, there's supposed to be a 1-800 number or something.  I'm about to unplug that fucking thing."

So this was my one and only experience so far with a bitcoin ATM, and the goddamn thing didn't even work properly.  So OP, if there are problems like this with the machines there's no way people are going to get enthusiastic about buying bitcoin through them.  I don't like having to do all the verification either, but there was a message that said it was required in the US.  I'm not surprised.

I should have taken photos of me and the manager pissing on the machine.  At least it would have been useful for laughs had I posted them here.

Then it wasn't really a useless trip, right?  ;D

Out of pure curiosity since out of ideas on how to help somebody buy some coins from what I think is a blacklisted bankaccount I sent him to an ATM before seeing the fees for the ATMs in Tennessee where that guy says he's living, how much would have that ATM charged you in fees? 7% 14% ? Maybe it was better it malfunctioned.


Out of four ATMs in my 10 km range I have:
- one located in a hallway that leads to the toilets in a commercial store where I haven't seen anybody going at all
- near the lift in the parking at a mall at -1 level
- a bar that opens at 16 and closes at 2 am.

So....don't know if its the rent or something but they definitely could do better!

But there is also a limit to this, unfortunately, all those ATMs are doing on-chain transactions, so if we have like 400k of them it's either only ATMs txs in the chain or some of them won't even manage to do a transaction a day.

Demand is really huge. The spread of Bitcoin ATMs is direct evidence of their popularity and need. I especially expect an increase in the number of ATMs in countries with an economic crisis such as Argentina or Venezuela to better adapt people to Bitcoin.

Over 3 years, a lot of bitcoin ATMs have been seated. Demand exists that speaks of the active popularization of Bitcoin. I would look at the statistics of the use of ATMs among different users (beginners and experienced traders), who like it more to use

Has this increased the number of traders? Are there any statistics?

So Pharmacist, seems like your experience is similar to what I'd expect, as I said I've never in my time of passing by these BATMs ever seen anyone using it.

Just yesterday meeting up with someone about Bitcoin too, and I live about 4 hours away from a self-styled Bitcoin City, and when I tried to spend my Bitcoin, the person at the cashier wasn't able to help as they weren't sure =)

So I get that ATMs and Bitcoin accepted logos everywhere ARE a sign of adoption, but they're not very good metrics at all.

Now this makes me think we should all try ATMS nearby us just to see.

The stories from the manufacturers tell a different tone though. And they MUST be profitable to keep building more, right?

Yeah, but I would have been way too old for her even if I was her type (not possible).  ;D

I should have spent more time looking at the ATM, but I was sweaty (bicycle ride) and frustrated.  But I did see that the price they were going to charge me per bitcoin was well over $10k, but this was before our little flash-crash here.  When I arrived at the ATM I think bitcoin was still going for $9500 or thereabouts. 

That would not have mattered, though.  I wanted to buy bitcoins from an ATM just so I could say I did it--and this is the only bitcoin ATM in my town.  When I looked at the ATM map, you have no idea how surprised I was to see there actually was one around me.  I don't live in a big city and when I'd looked at that map a couple of years ago, there wasn't one anywhere around me.  I have a feeling the liquor store manager is going to get rid of the machine.  I forgot to ask him or the cute girl whether anyone else had used the machine or why he had it in there.  Maybe I'll go back in a few days.

Hmm, my country has a single ATM listed, and its at a border city, apparently its inside a traveling agency...

Operating an ATM in the country with the world's worst inflation, sounds like fun. Here you need twice our fiat to buy 1 satoshi. Largest banknote is 50k, so imagine it like 25k satoshis. That's about 2 USD. I guess an ATM with only 2 and 1 USD banknotes only is doable, but still... The inflation is measured in million percent yearly, the purchasing power of the banknotes changes every day.

I still think a single customer transaction would fill (or empty) the safe-box, and he/she would probably remain short of funds anyway.

Nope, true adoption is not putting an ATM at your shop, is having your shop setup a wallet and integrate it with your accounting, or at least set up your own processor such as btcpay.

The ATMs are an unnecessary middleman that only over complicates things.

I wonder if this machine that can be found in 7 11 stores in the Philippines can be considered as a Bitcoin ATM because I can buy Bitcoins thru this machine. As long as theres a line of communication, this machine is online and you can buy Bitcoins through Coins.ph, if not then here in the Philippines I guess theres only 1 Bitcoin ATM.

https://i.imgur.com/XLqgy9im.jpg

The statistics for the number of bitcoin ATMs created within the last year does not necessarily mean that people are using it directly. With how enormous the fees can be on these little wankers, one can easily avoid it and go through all the required processes of KYC in order to get a better deal. I came across those things when I'm still in Canada, none of the people there seemed to bother using it nor checking it out. Traders are still going to the traditional cryptocurrency exchange platforms to trade their bitcoin and fiat, and not through a machine that asks for exorbitant fees that could easily be avoided.

If you can show the statistics for bitcoin ATMs servicing people in the past year, that would be nice.

I've bought in the past Bitcoin from ATM. And indeed, I was shocked by the fees. Unfortunately that stopped me from buying more.. then Bitcoin started rising and I've missed that train. It was in the days Bitcoin price was around 200-220$!
Now I still think sometimes that I could have bought more, even with those high fees.

So ATMs can be good, although nowadays there are way more easy options to buy Bitcoin. And if their number grows, maybe we'll see competition and lower fees...

I think these kind of machines are also counted.
In South Korea, or somewhere near there there are normal bank ATMs where you can (or will be able to) buy bitcoins, but you can't sell bitcoins there. If you count these ATMs too, the rise in the numbers is understandable.
Also, I understand if you sell bitcoin at the BTM, it requires ID or KYC or anything, because you'll get fiat in the end and you can use that fiat for nearly everything everywhere.
But why the KYC or ID scan is needed when you buy bitcoin? You have your fiat money (in cash or coins) and it's anonymous (you can prove the origin or you can't it doesn't matter now). You buy bitcoin with it which is also anonymous (pseudo, I know). You can't do whatever you want with your bitcoins, but because of the few exit possibilities of the bitcoin system (exchanges, localbitcoins, bitpay at webshops, etc.. not much thought) if you really want to spend your bitcoins for something everyday thing, you have to exchange it back to fiat, where KYC is required again...

Well, maybe supply is meeting demand but in overall bitcoin ATM's don't meet our requirements and to be fair as I see bitcoin ATMs are rarely used, just their locations are expanding, will be curious to see what's average profit from bitcoin ATMs in different countries. They need to change fees, it's insane, that's maybe why I very rarely see btc ATMs used by people. Almost everyone prefers to convert bitcoin into usd and then withdraw by bank's ATM they are using.
But still curious, why so much growth, I think quality over quantity will be better ration than current one we are seeing.

I am glad that the number of ATM has increased so much, but so far it is still not enough

Indeed, we can't really assure things but its great because you can see that it was improving despite of some issues it faced before. It is possible that people will get curious how that machine works and if someone who understands bitcoin share their own understanding or knowledge, they are able to caught peoples attention by helping them analyze its real purpose.

Bitcoin ATM's are not helping people to transact anonymously my friend, it is actually the opposite. Most Bitcoin ATM's actually apply very strict KYC/AML requirements and when people use them to convert Fiat to Crypto currencies, they reveal their real identity and also how many coins or tokens they bought. <linked to the Bitcoin address>  :(

Yes, it is very convenient and people like to use it, but if they want to be anonymous, they have to use Mixer services to break the link between themselves and these 3rd party services.  ;D

Though learning that more bitcoin ATMS is sprouting elsewhere is a good sign but the fees is another setbacks. I've seen one  near my place but seems only a few curious persons are using it. Though adoption is imminent, but still we need to educate  more people about this financial technology.

The increase of Bitcoin ATMs is quitw good for its publicity but that amount is still little to cater the world. Ofncourse, compared to the past its a huge increase in numbers though. But the usage of Bitcoin ATMs are imo quite low. People would still rather p2p to be fair and since a lot of people still dont know what BTC is, it would still take some time for people to adopt the usage of ATMs on a regular basis. Sure some people would use it but only every now and then.

Well that is a good news the increase of bitcoin ATMs in span of 3 years is the sign of bitcoin adaption and the getting more people invest on bitcoin but the problem with bitcoin atms are getting KYC since bitcoin is all about anonymity and decentralized system third party exchanges that own atms and they had to follow the rules and regulations.

The number of Bitcoin ATMs is increasing every day, but the number of Bitcoin ATM users is not growing.
We need to make Bitcoin more popular in the community, which brings people closer to Bitcoin. At the Philippines, ATM Bitcoin has installed for a long time, but it is not known and used by many people.

it's only natural that the number of Bitcoin ATMs will multiply each year, because only a small fraction of the world population even knows about Bitcoin and still to this day. There for businesses and investors around the world are going to jump on this opportunity to get into the Bitcoin space.

I didn't know that we are already in the 5k level for the number of bitcoin ATMs around the globe.
Though the number is increasing, do we know where those ATMs are located at?
So I tried to use our google friend and found out stats for each country -
Though not updated but we can already get the big picture of it. Phl is not yet included in the list though.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/343147/number-of-bitcoin-atms-countries/

https://i.postimg.cc/MZNTPcpV/Screen-Shot-2019-09-29-at-6-27-00-AM.png (https://postimages.org/)

You can also check this site to search for bitcoin ATM near your place.

https://coinatmradar.com/bitcoin-atm-near-me/

Very nice to know that ATMs are now spreading but I think for a worldwide basis, it is not enough. Also, It is a good way in campaigning bitcoin as new money platform. May I ask, are there any increase with the investors after having those ATMs? This one is a good public campaign.

It's not surprising since the cryptocurrency trend has been spreading but is only limited to those who are technologically updated and educated. People prefer to use cryptocurrency since it's free from the control of the government and owners or investors have the power over their money. It has been reported that as the year started, the number of cryptocurrency ATMs worldwide continues to grow. 5,000 milestone appears to have been reached as of the month of June. The number of Bitcoin ATM installations globally just hit a major milestone this year and will continue to grow because of the accelerating and fast-paced growth of cryptocurrency trend and BTC ATM installation will follow

I think it's in the EU and America. and the exception of several Asian countries such as Korea and Japan. and its use is primarily to take cash and trade directly with flat currency or also to saving directly to address wallet with flat currency. bitcoin atm is basically to provide easy access anywhere. if you need cash directly through an ATM. if someone has funds in their wallet, I think this ATM is good. and has many functions.

Exactly, with the popularity of bitcoin soaring over the years, it's no surprise for us when the government began to spend more time on bitcoin, even setting up bitcoin ATMs for demand of many users, the purpose of the government is so obvious, they want to get a share of the profits in bitcoin, part of our income, Bitcoin ATM is not free, it is used to monitor us. So I don't think we should use it and should accumulate more because government help probably adds to the value of bitcoin when new users are coming

There is a need, so ATM and appear. The more the better

Definitely if you see in comparison with 2016 we have seen a surge in demand of bitcoin. A lot more people have known about bitcoin. More people have entered this world. prices have surged many times in that time. Moreover governments around the world have also cleared their approaches regarding bitcoin. A few countries have made it legal while a few have given it a critique rejection.
In India, we saw UNOCOIN opening the first ever bitcoin ATM in the city of Bangalore. After just two days it was sealed by police. The owner of the company was arrested and is still under custody. The problem was with the word ATM as no company is allowed to open ATM with the approval of RBI.

This is the evidence that the bitcoin adoption is keep on increasing every year which is very nice to hear.

500% increase is a positive indicator that more and more banks or companies are interested with cryto currencies especially in bitcoin and they see also the potential income from it. I am hoping that someday our country will follow and will put bitcoin ATM's so I can withdraw my bitcoin anywhere safely.

As we expand in the adoption of bitcoin, more investors will come in to establish the ATM project but right now and based on the level of adoption that we have, I think that it is quite enough for us really, so that we just don’t have thousands of ATM piled up worldwide without having people to use it.

It is better that we have few ATM right now and see people's response towards it than to have unused one, and secondly, I believe that those who are establishing those ATM does not have regulation yet, and they will need to get regulation before they can establish more, otherwise government might be taking those ATM down which will be so much of loss of money. When regulation starts, there will also be an increase in the number of ATM as many intending investors will have the courage to do so.

Because in third world countries users of Bitcoin ATM is fewer specially in Asia  ,know why?

There are so much 7/11 stores that very accessible and friendly users and also you can purchase small amount with less hassles

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And what I believe is it’s not the machine or the volume of those is important to help cryptocurrency progress but it’s the volume of peoplec accumulating crypto’s and we cannot count this from the machines installed but from the buyers itself