Can more ATM's increase adoption for Bitcoin?

[finaleshot2016]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

[LbtalkL]

There's no need for bitcoin ATM no more, fiat? Well yes!
Lots of gadgets have overshadowed the need for bitcoin ATM as individuals can easily explore and transact from the comfort of their homes using those gadgets

But the question is will it increase adoption for bitcoin? OP is not comparing it about how convenient is ATM or some gadget, etc. For a country that few people only believe in crypto or bitcoin, this really helps the adoption. If your local bank opening a bitcoin ATM for sure many will be curious and interested and start trusting it. Gaining the trust of the community is a core key to a nationwide or worldwide adoption.

TO OP:

Would you buy Bitcoin at ATM or nah?   

It really depends on the rate, I will always go for the higher rate, ATM rate or others, but it depends on the availability and situation.
If I really need the money that fast I better choose ATM.

[Yatsan]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

If awareness it will be a yes, it will affect somehow the people that is going to see that ATM on what is Bitcoin, and why does it have an ATM. But generally, I think just a small number of users will test or use that bitcoin ATM. We go to internet to avoid hassle kind of action instead, we are using online transactions so that the transaction will be easier and faster. Just like what you said, It's easier to buy bitcoin or sell bitcoin using your bank account or even paypal.

Personally, I will not also use that ATM, considering that I prefer my money going to my bank and just using it, when I need it.

[TitanGEL]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

If awareness it will be a yes, it will affect somehow the people that is going to see that ATM on what is Bitcoin, and why does it have an ATM. But generally, I think just a small number of users will test or use that bitcoin ATM. We go to internet to avoid hassle kind of action instead, we are using online transactions so that the transaction will be easier and faster. Just like what you said, It's easier to buy bitcoin or sell bitcoin using your bank account or even paypal.

Personally, I will not also use that ATM, considering that I prefer my money going to my bank and just using it, when I need it.

It can spread awareness, just like what happened in my community. There is a famous retail store that have now bitcoin atm. People who are wtihdrawing in different bank atms are now curious to what it is. There is a study that the awareness will become more effective by implementing bitcoin atm in different communities. For those people who want to have bitcoins easily then they can use bitcoin atms but the fees is high and it is one of the disadvantages.

[rodskee]

i dont need that it is the ATM whos people needs to Know for them to invest in in crypto currency because even how many ATM's will be installed in strategic places but we are not doing our part to educate them i believe that there is no sense at all.based on my own experience,when i first learn about bitcoin my interest is to come and see the ATM machines installed here in my country but after going there?i feel sad because in my 1 hour of stay there?no one ever uses the machine.so i come to realized that i need to act myself and not let the machine do the JOB.

[bryant.coleman]

We still have a lot of individuals (who are in their middle-ages or even older), who prefer not to deal with money online. They don't want to do financial transactions through smartphone or laptop. The Bitcoin ATMs appeal to such people. Another aspect is the privacy. In countries such as China, the authorities are monitoring what is going on in the online space. So if you want to stay under the radar with your cryptocurrency dealings, then you need to depend upon offline modes, such as Bitcoin ATMs.

[peter0425]

I think it was too early for using that kind of machine. I don't think it will succeed because the market was not yet ready for that. Foreign and local exchanger is enough today to provide our needs and a lot of trusted exchange are there to to provide quality service. Binance can consider as the top performing exchange but it depends on your personal experiences.

well there are even banks providing atm machines for crypto now so Bitcoin machine has no actual function when you can use those banks provided that has many offer currencies.

but being ready?depend on what country you are because in mine therea re local wallet/exchange that can easily purchase Bitcoin and 3 other currencies like ETH ,XRP and BCH.

[tvplus006]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin machines are made for ease of use. But in fact, they play a major role in promoting bitcoin among the population. Only it is unknown whether an ordinary citizen will be able to use a purchased and open wallet in an ATM with bitcoin. I believe that this requires at least minimal knowledge about bitcoin.

[Assface16678]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin machines are made for ease of use. But in fact, they play a major role in promoting bitcoin among the population. Only it is unknown whether an ordinary citizen will be able to use a purchased and open wallet in an ATM with bitcoin. I believe that this requires at least minimal knowledge about bitcoin.

Today being popular in using bitcoin is growing and many people today make an investment because they see the potential of the crypto world and now they are supporting the use of bitcoin. For now, there are only a few countries accepted the use of the bitcoin and according to thread of this topic in Vietnam, they accepted the use of bitcoin atm and this is good and efficient to the users who hold a lot of digital currency than the real money because we all know that if we are looking at the future we are lessen all of the physical aspects of transaction. One of the biggest advantages of having a transaction of bitcoin atm is we can withdraw easily our bitcoin into the nearest atm because there is a lot of process and transaction fee will be deducted into our crypto before it reaches in fiat and also we are lessen having a long queue for withdrawal request because we have a different line for bitcoin atm.

[Andrews193]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin machines are made for ease of use. But in fact, they play a major role in promoting bitcoin among the population. Only it is unknown whether an ordinary citizen will be able to use a purchased and open wallet in an ATM with bitcoin. I believe that this requires at least minimal knowledge about bitcoin.

Perhaps Bitcoin ATM will have an influence, even a certain impetus when its presence is constantly increasing in the market because as a user, our nature will always be very curious about new things like bitcoin, if we do not know about it, surely we will seek knowledge and learn right away. But this will not be synonymous with acceptance and use because bitcoin has had some bad reputations, people probably just want to increase their knowledge of bitcoin, their intention in the future will need more decision making and development from the government.

[FlightyPouch]

I do not think this is gonna be a good idea because if we have a bitcoin atm, its transaction fee might be doubled because it is now centralized. Government want to take part of it so maybe it will have a tax that all of the cryptocurrency user doesn't want to. I would still suggest to let it stay being a digital money only.

In terms of promoting crypto currencies especially bitcoin, this is great but I would not also use this since these machines have their fees being added by the companies behind it. I also don't want to be buying bitcoin outside as people can see me, I would love to use bitcoin but I want myself to be anonymous since that is another reason I use it.

[Initscri]

Provided fees are kept low, and there is sufficient demand - yes.

I honestly don't understand why there are so many ATM companies that charge outrageous fees, but then wonder why their growth stagnates.

It would be a much more sufficient approach to create more ATMs in more communities w/ lower fees (while still maintain profit OFC) + buy/sell, which would promote Bitcoin and increase ATM usage.

Just my $0.02

[Meowth05]

I remember the article that I used to read before that there are now having a lot of Bitcoin ATM machine across the world especially in US. Personally, I would like to have a Bitcoin ATM machines across the world but first legalization must be done first so that local businesses accept this kind of monetary system. I think this won't be a problem for rich countries but I don't think that it will be that effective in 3rd world countries hence, there will be still some limitations.

[BTMBitcoinVN]

Provided fees are kept low, and there is sufficient demand - yes.

I honestly don't understand why there are so many ATM companies that charge outrageous fees, but then wonder why their growth stagnates.

It would be a much more sufficient approach to create more ATMs in more communities w/ lower fees (while still maintain profit OFC) + buy/sell, which would promote Bitcoin and increase ATM usage.

Just my $0.02

We wrote something about this issue in our most recent contribution to this forum:

We are currently in Vietnam the largest operator of Bitcoin ATM's, however operating a fleet of machines is by no means easy.

Unfortunately it is far from "plug&play", forget about it and collect some $ at the end of the month of it.

The overhead to operate such machines is tremendous: Regular hardware issues, customers who manage to clog up the bill recipient with terribly folded/crumbled bills or force-inserting their money (despite stickers with clear indication of what is what) into the printer slit instead of the bill acceptor... - shaky Internet or power connection; physical safety, issues with software & telco providers... - as a start.

And by that we have not even touched another elephant in the room which provides uncertainty/burden to the business: Regulation!

And if you want to build up anything like a regular customer flow the rule number one is: Keep your damn machines online and fix problems within hours max.!

Operating them as a hobby won't work in most cases, so it will be necessary to build up a dedicated team which learns about all the quirks & features of the machines; establishes direct connections with hardware & software vendors for fast support; is able to react fast on any issues occurring; knows how to manage cash/crypto balances to "never" run out of funds while at the same time manage the risk tightly.

When the BTM Department of BitcoinVN launched in 2016 with its first machine it was indeed nothing more than a "side business" without dedicated staff which of course had impact on the service level.

By now we have established a specialized team operating the current machines and expanding the network further location by location. It ain't easy, but our team is learning day by day and gaining some more experience and knowledge every day.

Far from easy money, but if you are willing to put in the work; be patient and build up a team it can become a business.

[Sanugarid]

The location of bitcoin atm here in my country is near our home. Until now, I still don't find any reasons to buy it. I'm already having a great experience on making transactions on the internet and direct withdraw it on my personal bank using my phone. Bitcoin ATM is good idea but not essential anymore for users but I see a little good effect of it on the community, people will see that Bitcoin is really legit due to existing ATM of Bitcoin.

If awareness it will be a yes, it will affect somehow the people that is going to see that ATM on what is Bitcoin, and why does it have an ATM. But generally, I think just a small number of users will test or use that bitcoin ATM. We go to internet to avoid hassle kind of action instead, we are using online transactions so that the transaction will be easier and faster. Just like what you said, It's easier to buy bitcoin or sell bitcoin using your bank account or even paypal.

Personally, I will not also use that ATM, considering that I prefer my money going to my bank and just using it, when I need it.

That was a good point, we are here to buy or to use bitcoin as a digital currency, we can actually access it online so why do we need some ATM machines like this but maybe because this is some kind of advertisement and a convenient way of buying also for others who want easy transaction although buying online was better.

I remember the article that I used to read before that there are now having a lot of Bitcoin ATM machine across the world especially in US. Personally, I would like to have a Bitcoin ATM machines across the world but first legalization must be done first so that local businesses accept this kind of monetary system. I think this won't be a problem for rich countries but I don't think that it will be that effective in 3rd world countries hence, there will be still some limitations.

As bitcoin spreads around the world, it is becoming more famous time by time and there are countries that are legalizing bitcoin as of now because they knew what is the good purpose and usage of this digital currency, making your transaction faster and way safer than making transaction through fiat. As of now, bitcoin has a lot of use, it is a good investment to some people and it is a good way of payment method to others.

[Rengga Jati]

1. Bitcoin ATM's usually charge much higher fees than exchanges, so they're not the best for customers. -snip-

Yes. This fact makes less interest in using Bitcoin ATMs. Then, of course, it doesn't help for better adoption. Unless if Bitcoin ATMs charge lower fees, so it can help for the adoption of Bitcoin, although it is not so significant.

2. Bitcoin exists on the Internet, so it's actually not that important for people to buy it via an ATM -snip-

However, if Bitcoin ATMs charger lower fees, it can be another option for people to buy. But yes, it may decrease the anonymity of someone. Well, as another option, it is not too bad as long as not charge high fees.

[bryant.coleman]

1. Bitcoin ATM's usually charge much higher fees than exchanges, so they're not the best for customers. -snip-

Yes. This fact makes less interest in using Bitcoin ATMs. Then, of course, it doesn't help for better adoption. Unless if Bitcoin ATMs charge lower fees, so it can help for the adoption of Bitcoin, although it is not so significant.

2. Bitcoin exists on the Internet, so it's actually not that important for people to buy it via an ATM -snip-

However, if Bitcoin ATMs charger lower fees, it can be another option for people to buy. But yes, it may decrease the anonymity of someone. Well, as another option, it is not too bad as long as not charge high fees.

Significant costs are involved in operating a Bitcoin ATM and it is not like operating an online platform. On top of that, the tax structure and liabilities are different as well. So unlike the online exchanges, you can't expect fees in range of 0.1%-0.2% for the ATMs. Most of them charge anywhere between 4% and 10%, and those who are looking for anonymity will be ready to pay such premium. Anyway, it is a free world out there. If you don't want to use an ATM, then you are free to do so. No one is forcing others to use these machines.

[AleSergio]

Like for real I would never buy bitcoins in ATM.  Firstly it is unsafe, because a lot fraud would happen and some people would start to make money on this business. Secondly it doesn't matter for a bitcoin holders, because we all know how to buy bitcoins online and if not there are a lot of guides how to do this. Thirdly it is easier to buy online, rather than from ATMs.

[Initscri]

Provided fees are kept low, and there is sufficient demand - yes.

I honestly don't understand why there are so many ATM companies that charge outrageous fees, but then wonder why their growth stagnates.

It would be a much more sufficient approach to create more ATMs in more communities w/ lower fees (while still maintain profit OFC) + buy/sell, which would promote Bitcoin and increase ATM usage.

Just my $0.02

We wrote something about this issue in our most recent contribution to this forum:

We are currently in Vietnam the largest operator of Bitcoin ATM's, however operating a fleet of machines is by no means easy.

Unfortunately it is far from "plug&play", forget about it and collect some $ at the end of the month of it.

The overhead to operate such machines is tremendous: Regular hardware issues, customers who manage to clog up the bill recipient with terribly folded/crumbled bills or force-inserting their money (despite stickers with clear indication of what is what) into the printer slit instead of the bill acceptor... - shaky Internet or power connection; physical safety, issues with software & telco providers... - as a start.

And by that we have not even touched another elephant in the room which provides uncertainty/burden to the business: Regulation!

And if you want to build up anything like a regular customer flow the rule number one is: Keep your damn machines online and fix problems within hours max.!

Operating them as a hobby won't work in most cases, so it will be necessary to build up a dedicated team which learns about all the quirks & features of the machines; establishes direct connections with hardware & software vendors for fast support; is able to react fast on any issues occurring; knows how to manage cash/crypto balances to "never" run out of funds while at the same time manage the risk tightly.

When the BTM Department of BitcoinVN launched in 2016 with its first machine it was indeed nothing more than a "side business" without dedicated staff which of course had impact on the service level.

By now we have established a specialized team operating the current machines and expanding the network further location by location. It ain't easy, but our team is learning day by day and gaining some more experience and knowledge every day.

Far from easy money, but if you are willing to put in the work; be patient and build up a team it can become a business.

Understandably, yea it's tough. Because I know it's not plug & play for sure - and i know there's most likely a large amount of time/effort required to run an ATM business - especially one at a larger scale (or even just 1 offs for that matter).

The problem is, as with any industry, you have people come in and try to "get rich quick" off certain ideas. There are a few companies/individuals charging outrageous fees and TBH it just kind of ruins it for the legitimate players who are trying to establish legitimate businesses.

[elenag1142]

While Bitcoin ATM give comfort, numerous individuals wouldn't utilize it within the wake of realizing the conversion standard is high. IMO just existing Bitcoiner who have restricted alternatives who might utilize Bitcoin ATM.

However, it could support Bitcoin utilization as cash/installment strategy on the spot where numerous stores/dealer acknowledge Bitcoin.