The history of bitcoin ATMs is much longer than I thought!

[BIN-BIN]

I wonder, was there really a need on your part to travel a few miles on a bicycle and on a very cold day just to transact with a Bitcoin ATM? Or was it just you thinking it was a nice day to bike around and visit the Bitcoin ATM in the adjacent town?

No, I absolutely didn't need to use the ATM.  By the way, I rode back there again today and bought some Dash in addition to bitcoin.  It's been a long winter and the past few days have been relatively mild, hence the desire for cycling--but I also like bitcoin ATMs and this particular one has much lower fees than the previous two I'd used.

And I agree with you that crypto/bitcoin ATMs are an unnecessary thing since nobody really needs bitcoin so urgently that they'd need to take a trip to that ATM to get it.  A normal crypto user would just buy it through an exchange like Coinbase, as it's much cheaper.  I'm curious to see whether these ATMs survive for exactly the reasons you and I just wrote about.  For right now I think they're a very cool novelty.

I wasn't aware that ATMs needed an ID. Did it really needed a verification when doing transactions?

Some of them do, some don't.  The one I used today and a few days ago only required me to receive an SMS text code and to input my name.  You can input any name with no problem.  I'm sure that camera that's in the machine is watching you, and they all have that.  The first one I tried to use wouldn't work, as it kept getting stuck at trying to take a picture of my driver's license.  That was annoying as hell.

why crypto atm instead of a crypto point-of-sale app?

I've never used anything like that, and I'll have to look into it.  As far as why I chose to use this ATM, I think I've pretty much explained it.  I didn't need bitcoin or Dash really badly, but I felt like riding my bike and I like to have a destination when I ride.  And again, I think the concept of bitcoin ATMs is very cool.

Probably depends on the provider, I don't really think there's much you can do to remain 100% anonymous anymore. As I've mentioned already, after some research, to use the ATM here you'll have to provide them with quite a little information/documents, as a KYC policy. Thus, I don't see an actual need for them to exist to be honest.

Most of the bitcoin ATM users and promoters are doing so to support the idea and the technology in bitcoin advancement, having a bitcoin ATM around the city make transactions very easy I don't buy bitcoin from a bitcoin ATM I rather withdrew my bitcoin or use it for payments through the use of a bitcoin card that support cash withdrawal and payments through the use of point of sale (POS) machine at retailer stores.

[perfect999]

Bitcoin ATMs are really cool technology, but I don’t make use of them because of how high the fees can be , and moreover there isn’t much of them in my country, just a few which I’m lucky to have experienced.

But maybe when there are lots of companies here offering this service of Bitcoin ATM, maybe the competition will be high, if there are lots of people making use of the ATMs and they will try to reduce their fees to be able to compete with others. For now I am completely off from making use of these ATMs, since there are other means I can easily do that without the stress of walking down to an ATM, paying high fees, and doing kyc.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I wasn't aware that ATMs needed an ID. Did it really needed a verification when doing transactions?

Sorry, I haven't looked at this thread in a while and missed your post.  Some bitcoin ATMs require a photo ID, and in the US that would be a driver's license.  But the last couple of ATMs I've used only required an SMS verification for purchases <$900.  There are different types of these ATMs, and I think I've linked to coinatmradar before.  If you search, you'll see all the different kinds--and each type has their own fee structure and KYC requirements.

As an aside, I just used a multi-coin ATM today, one I've used in the past with no problems.  But today I bought $60 worth of ETH and so far it hasn't shown up in my wallet.  I don't know if it can take hours for coins to appear, but I'm hoping that transaction didn't get messed up.

[Twentyonepaylots]

They have in very big topics of discussion in the past, although I myself couldn't picture a fully functioning Bitcoin Telling Machine as early as 2011, a mere few years after bitcoin is conceived. Things like this gets you excited for what the future has in store for bitcoin, because things that are labeled ridiculous or impossible by today's standards can become a reality in the next couple of years.

[Timelord2067]

They have in very big topics of discussion in the past, although I myself couldn't picture a fully functioning Bitcoin Telling Machine as early as 2011, a mere few years after bitcoin is conceived. Things like this gets you excited for what the future has in store for bitcoin, because things that are labeled ridiculous or impossible by today's standards can become a reality in the next couple of years.

Many years ago I saw a couple of articles mentioning soft drink vending machines on College Campus's - since then I've seen vending machines accepting "tap and go" EFTPOS transactions, so The Banks are playing catch up in that respect.

As The Pharmacist touched on above, TX times or TX just going astray are going to be problematic, especially when dealing with an ATM in a random location such as a local corner store that doesn't own the machine (meaning a long and protracted task to recover lost TX).

[malevolent]

As an aside, I just used a multi-coin ATM today, one I've used in the past with no problems.  But today I bought $60 worth of ETH and so far it hasn't shown up in my wallet.  I don't know if it can take hours for coins to appear, but I'm hoping that transaction didn't get messed up.

Unfortunately ETH transactions are also expensive nowadays.

TX times or TX just going astray are going to be problematic, especially when dealing with an ATM in a random location such as a local corner store that doesn't own the machine (meaning a long and protracted task to recover lost TX).

There should be some contact information listed on the specific ATM used, if there isn't any I'd be wary of using one.