Bitcoin ATM - San Francisco

[thr33]

My partner and I have developed a prototype of a physical bitcoin ATM. You walk up to the machine, insert physical US dollars, scan your QR code, and then have bitcoins sent immediately to your address.

At this point we are debating if this is something we commercialize and attempt to publicly offer as a service, or if we just treat this as a side project. I'm hoping to gauge interest here and see how worthwhile it would be to setup our ATM somewhere in San Francisco.

I'm happy to answer any questions, thank you!

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[Mitchell]

Would be cool if I had it in my city. I don't think a lot of people would use it, but just having it would drawn a lot of attention.

[MA5H3D]

I know there are a few companies working on projects like this, but I think there is room for another. I would definitely use one if there was one near me.

Two similar projects to this are:
bitcoinatm.com - Bitcoin ATM
lamassu.is - Bitcoin Machine

Note that lamassu have avoided the term "ATM" as you can't withdraw cash from their machines.

[RodeoX]

I looked into buying some BTC ATM's but discovered one problem. The FinCen guidelines are not crystal clear, but seem to state that the owner/operator of the machine must be licensed as a money transmitter. That could represent an insurmountable barrier to entering the market. Some states have ridiculous requirements, such as posting multi-million dollar bonds. Has anyone come up with a way to address this? I would love to own and use such a machine. 

[Mitchell]

I looked into buying some BTC ATM's but discovered one problem. The FinCen guidelines are not crystal clear, but seem to state that the owner/operator of the machine must be licensed as a money transmitter. That could represent an insurmountable barrier to entering the market. Some states have ridiculous requirements, such as posting multi-million dollar bonds. Has anyone come up with a way to address this? I would love to own and use such a machine.  

Couldn't you make it a donation? You donate me 100$ dollars, I will donate you a BitCoin.

[RodeoX]

I looked into buying some BTC ATM's but discovered one problem. The FinCen guidelines are not crystal clear, but seem to state that the owner/operator of the machine must be licensed as a money transmitter. That could represent an insurmountable barrier to entering the market. Some states have ridiculous requirements, such as posting multi-million dollar bonds. Has anyone come up with a way to address this? I would love to own and use such a machine.  

Can't you make it a donation like ATM? You donate me 100$ dollars, I will donate you a BitCoin.

Hopefully you won't change your mind and keep my btc. I could not demand that you donate to me. 
But do keep trying to find a way! I think these will show up eventually. The problem is that the banking industry has worked very hard to keep any new players out. 

[Mitchell]

I looked into buying some BTC ATM's but discovered one problem. The FinCen guidelines are not crystal clear, but seem to state that the owner/operator of the machine must be licensed as a money transmitter. That could represent an insurmountable barrier to entering the market. Some states have ridiculous requirements, such as posting multi-million dollar bonds. Has anyone come up with a way to address this? I would love to own and use such a machine.  

Can't you make it a donation like ATM? You donate me 100$ dollars, I will donate you a BitCoin.

Hopefully you won't change your mind and keep my btc. I could not demand that you donate to me.  
But do keep trying to find a way! I think these will show up eventually. The problem is that the banking industry has worked very hard to keep any new players out.  

Well, as a salesperson you could use some sort of voucher system. The customers sees you generating it (difficult symbols so he cannot remind it and walk away). Then he "donates" you the money and you give him a voucher to receive his "donation". The voucher can then be used to get his donation from escrow or something. Dunno, something like that would be useful I guess.

[RodeoX]

Well, as a salesperson you could use some sort of voucher system. The customers sees you generating it (difficult symbols so he cannot remind it and walk away). Then he "donates" you the money and you give him a voucher to receive his "donation". The voucher can then be used to get his donation from escrow or something. Dunno, something like that would be useful I guess.

Perhaps, but I have to be able to say that to a judge with a straight face. Kinda like what some people did during prohibition in the U.S. It was illegal to sell alcohol in some places, but not give it away. Guys would hang out selling very expensive pencils that came with a "free" drink. These attempts generally did not hold up in court. 

[Mitchell]

Well, as a salesperson you could use some sort of voucher system. The customers sees you generating it (difficult symbols so he cannot remind it and walk away). Then he "donates" you the money and you give him a voucher to receive his "donation". The voucher can then be used to get his donation from escrow or something. Dunno, something like that would be useful I guess.

Perhaps, but I have to be able to say that to a judge with a straight face. Kinda like what some people did during prohibition in the U.S. It was illegal to sell alcohol in some places, but not give it away. Guys would hang out selling very expensive pencils that came with a "free" drink. These attempts generally did not hold up in court.  

True. Well how about: "I found that on the ground and didn't knew what it was. Then I read it up and they are right! Banks suck, BitCoin ftw!". I guess you would go to jail right away.

[MA5H3D]

Check out: RoboCoinKiosk.com

The biometric scanner idea is kinda genius, FinCen will love it!

[Mitchell]

Check out: RoboCoinKiosk.com

The biometric scanner idea is kinda genius, FinCen will love it!

Damn, that thing is awesome, except that it scans my hand and that that scan could be used to identify me.

[ronimacarroni]

I looked into buying some BTC ATM's but discovered one problem. The FinCen guidelines are not crystal clear, but seem to state that the owner/operator of the machine must be licensed as a money transmitter. That could represent an insurmountable barrier to entering the market. Some states have ridiculous requirements, such as posting multi-million dollar bonds. Has anyone come up with a way to address this? I would love to own and use such a machine. 

what if its a slot machine?
with 100% probability of winning