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

[Welsh]

Its quite surprising how far, and wide the ATMs have reached around the world. I've some some in foreign countries, as well as being in my home country. I'm never really seen the need to use one, over other more traditional ways, especially if you were to consider tampering, which occasionally can occur with non cryptocurrency ATMs. Personally, I prefer to purchase from an exchange, but I'm curious in this day, and age what would be the benefit for a cryptocurrency ATM other than being a gimmick?

The ATM would themselves add a markup, very much like traditional exchanges, these days everyone offering a service usually requires KYC, and therefore that eliminates the privacy aspect that these provided once upon a time, and by using a ATM you are publicly advertising that you are into Bitcoin, and with the recent surges in Bitcoin, one might become a higher priority target than traditional ATM users.

There's also the fact that these ATMs are usually situated in cities, and therefore require traveling to get to for a lot of people which either adds to the costs, or simply as it was in your case; adds some muscle. I would be particularly interested in seeing the statistics of how often these devices are used, since I simply can't see them being viable for most users, or at least not very convenient.

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[Darker45]

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 don't think they'd be gone soon. So far, their numbers are still increasing.

I quite agree that Bitcoin/crypto ATMs are cool. Surely, they're there for certain reasons beyond their practical purpose. A Bitcoin/crypto ATM could, for example, probably act as a proof or testament that Bitcoin/crypto is indeed legit, that it's actually in the open and not some mysterious and clandestine form of cult money, or that it's not just some Ponzi, deep web or criminal money, investment scam, and so on they've heard or read somewhere.

They also serve as a sort of a marketing for Bitcoin/crypto. And I guess they're effective to a certain extent. They probably make people encounter Bitcoin for the first time and, better, get curious about it.

[malevolent]

Its quite surprising how far, and wide the ATMs have reached around the world. I've some some in foreign countries, as well as being in my home country. I'm never really seen the need to use one, over other more traditional ways, especially if you were to consider tampering, which occasionally can occur with non cryptocurrency ATMs. Personally, I prefer to purchase from an exchange, but I'm curious in this day, and age what would be the benefit for a cryptocurrency ATM other than being a gimmick?

The ATM would themselves add a markup, very much like traditional exchanges, these days everyone offering a service usually requires KYC, and therefore that eliminates the privacy aspect that these provided once upon a time, and by using a ATM you are publicly advertising that you are into Bitcoin, and with the recent surges in Bitcoin, one might become a higher priority target than traditional ATM users.

There are still ATMs which don't require KYC, so that's one reason to use one for many people. Not all of them have huge markups. There's more trouble with using exchanges as they always ask for dox, can refuse to do business with a users for any reason, can freeze the funds, some banks don't allow their users to do business with exchanges, etc. And some people still haven't entirely switched to electronic payments.

There's also the fact that these ATMs are usually situated in cities, and therefore require traveling to get to for a lot of people which either adds to the costs, or simply as it was in your case; adds some muscle. I would be particularly interested in seeing the statistics of how often these devices are used, since I simply can't see them being viable for most users, or at least not very convenient.

Most people live in urban areas.

Yea, just a pity that the manufacturers and distributors of these Bitcoin ATM's are mostly targeted at the 1st world countries and 3rd world cities are not even covered. I travel a lot for work and I can tell you that there are almost ZERO Bitcoin ATM's in large cities in 3rd world countries.

I think these companies are just worried about the profits and they could care less about these 3rd world countries. (Getting these ATM's out there, will help with remittance ...because a lot of 3rd world citizens are working in 1st world countries and they always send money home with expensive remittance services, like MoneyGram) 

People in 3rd world countries are free to buy Bitcoin ATMs themselves to operate and make money from. If few are doing it, there probably are risk/regulatory reasons for that. They're poorer but not that poor to explain why there are so few Bitcoin ATMs in some poorer populous countries.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Its quite surprising how far, and wide the ATMs have reached around the world. I've some some in foreign countries, as well as being in my home country. I'm never really seen the need to use one, over other more traditional ways, especially if you were to consider tampering, which occasionally can occur with non cryptocurrency ATMs. Personally, I prefer to purchase from an exchange, but I'm curious in this day, and age what would be the benefit for a cryptocurrency ATM other than being a gimmick?

Maybe the same thing that a normal ATM is going to offer is what a crypto ATM does, I don't think that there isn't much different. I too am surprised, as far as I know, in my country there isn't even one bitcoin ATM at the moment which isn't bad at all because that means that there are some regulations and taxations involved when you use their services.

The ATM would themselves add a markup, very much like traditional exchanges, these days everyone offering a service usually requires KYC, and therefore that eliminates the privacy aspect that these provided once upon a time, and by using a ATM you are publicly advertising that you are into Bitcoin, and with the recent surges in Bitcoin, one might become a higher priority target than traditional ATM users.

I mean, there is nothing wrong with that I guess, just wear a mask, fake beard, contact lenses, and a beanie to hide your face from the ATM cameras, I am pretty sure that no one is going to bat an eye if you are to do that.

There's also the fact that these ATMs are usually situated in cities, and therefore require traveling to get to for a lot of people which either adds to the costs, or simply as it was in your case; adds some muscle. I would be particularly interested in seeing the statistics of how often these devices are used, since I simply can't see them being viable for most users, or at least not very convenient.

It is good that it is in the city because there are more people there, the requirement to travel to city to get to a bitcoin ATM is not the fault of the ATMs themselves because they are a business and they need to target more people as much as possible, the real goobers in that scenario is the government that didn't develop the outskirts of the city.

[Charles-Tim]

Its quite surprising how far, and wide the ATMs have reached around the world. I've some some in foreign countries, as well as being in my home country. I'm never really seen the need to use one, over other more traditional ways, especially if you were to consider tampering, which occasionally can occur with non cryptocurrency ATMs. Personally, I prefer to purchase from an exchange, but I'm curious in this day, and age what would be the benefit for a cryptocurrency ATM other than being a gimmick?

You are not wrong about this, some people will prefer to make use of exchanges, while some people will even like p2p exchanges, while some will go a bit further for privacy reasons to make use of noncustododial exchanges like bsiq. But the rise of crypto ATMs are increasing, this is because people see it useful, I noticed these ATMs are very close to or within big stores, malls, super markets and the likes. In this case, many people see it useful to buy from the stores while using crypto ATM for payment are accepted, many buyers will not hesitate to make use of it in this case.

The ATM would themselves add a markup, very much like traditional exchanges, these days everyone offering a service usually requires KYC, and therefore that eliminates the privacy aspect that these provided once upon a time, and by using a ATM you are publicly advertising that you are into Bitcoin, and with the recent surges in Bitcoin, one might become a higher priority target than traditional ATM users.

You are also right about this, crypto ATMs terms of services differ, but I too noticed they are moving towards ways individual identities can be easily known, but I have come to think the company providing such services have a mobile number, email or other ways to get in touch to know about their terms of service, some people will first do that to know if to use it or not. Some will not require for anything related to kyc (but I doubt that these days), some will not require for anything other than phone number while buying and selling less than $2000 but it depends on terms of service. Although, giving out phone number can likely compromise privacy,  and I have never heard of recent ATMs that will not demand for phone number at certain point either for buying and selling, but these TOS are important because very possible there are some crypto ATM that might still provide the privacy.

There's also the fact that these ATMs are usually situated in cities, and therefore require traveling to get to for a lot of people which either adds to the costs, or simply as it was in your case; adds some muscle. I would be particularly interested in seeing the statistics of how often these devices are used, since I simply can't see them being viable for most users, or at least not very convenient.

There are alternatives like you have once mentioned, if someone is not located where crypto ATM is, he/she can still make use of other methods while p2p is available everywhere and easily accessible online, this will be the forgo of those not having crypto ATM nearby, but some users do make sure of it while shopping in stores. People making use of crypto ATM are people that have close access to it while other alternatives are there like you mentioned and I think p2p is just my best way. But crypto ATM is one of the ways more people are knowing bitcoin and the number is increasing because people in the nearest location to it are using it, I think more probably for shopper in stores.

[TedMosby]

-snip-

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.

-snip

the idea is cool for most of us, but we have many people who are really strict with privacy and prefer to be anonymous as a bitcoiner.
for enthusiasts like me, it's a yes. I love trying new things. We had a bitcoin ATM here a few years ago at a coworking space. it used to be a cool bitcoin-related stuff. but then regulation hit it badly.

I read that mastercard wants to bring bitcoin to their network. how about it? will it make bitcoin more "ATM"able?

[buwaytress]

I have had so many discussions about this, and actually, if you can believe it, most of them took place before I even had my first Bitcoin wallet (I covered some of the news in my locations, and Bitcoin was always sort of a curious topic on the leisure or back pages even at that time).

Malaysia, for example actually had 2 ATMs in a trendy area some time in 2012-2013 (imagine) back when most people still didn't even feel comfortable with mobile payments yet. They both fell into disrepair really quickly too ha!

ATMs, I later learnt, were huge for some North Americans I worked with. They sold everything they earned on it to get cash. This was at late as 2018/19.

I'm actually still waiting for the ones in my area to come back. They were taken down early last year (can't recall anymore when) after apparently new AMLD5 rulings on kyc. Imagine you could actually still buy/sell EUR 5000 per day without ID;) I actually vaguely remember you opening a post about ATMs too last year, that was you on your bike, wasn't it?

[kryptqnick]

It's very impressive that some ATMs existed back in 2013, I didn't know they were a thing back then. I've searched a little about ATMs in Ukraine, and there's an article from 2014 which states that there is a Lamassu Bitcoin ATM in Ukraine and intentions to offer other options soon. That's also pretty early, especially since the vast majority of ATMs are still located in North America, and Ukraine is not the first country that comes to mind in terms of crypto adoption.
What was the fee of the ATM that you used, by the way? I avoid ATMs because of the fees, so I'm curious if they're becoming acceptable.

[malevolent]

You are also right about this, crypto ATMs terms of services differ, but I too noticed they are moving towards ways individual identities can be easily known, but I have come to think the company providing such services have a mobile number, email or other ways to get in touch to know about their terms of service, some people will first do that to know if to use it or not. Some will not require for anything related to kyc (but I doubt that these days), some will not require for anything other than phone number while buying and selling less than $2000 but it depends on terms of service. Although, giving out phone number can likely compromise privacy,  and I have never heard of recent ATMs that will not demand for phone number at certain point either for buying and selling, but these TOS are important because very possible there are some crypto ATM that might still provide the privacy.

There are still Bitcoin ATMs in continental Europe which don't even require a phone number, much less other forms of identification. But it's probably a matter of time before that changes forever.

Malaysia, for example actually had 2 ATMs in a trendy area some time in 2012-2013 (imagine) back when most people still didn't even feel comfortable with mobile payments yet. They both fell into disrepair really quickly too ha!

I've been following the Bitcoin ATM space since the start, I really doubt there were any there before 2014 unless it was a temporary thing self-built DIY thing by an enthusiast.

[Smartvirus]

When I started hearing of the bitcoin ATM,  my mind did drift to the possibility of the machine actually vomiting coins, lol. As we all know, there isn't any such physical coin and so, that is a very unlikely event that won't be happening and I hope not though, I'm still curious as to how the bitcoin machine really operates and if, its universal.

On this note of the possibility of a bitcoin ATM to be strategically installed in places of the world, I begin to ask why? Why some countries aren't seeing this progress and still restrict individual participation? Here is a photo on the available bitcoin and locations amongst African nation.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/blocknewsafrica.com/bitcoin-atms-in-africa/amp/
It becomes of increasing difficulty to agree that, Nigeria is actually facing off with bitcoin but still, I'll invest as I can't afford to play there dirty games.

[buwaytress]

Malaysia, for example actually had 2 ATMs in a trendy area some time in 2012-2013 (imagine) back when most people still didn't even feel comfortable with mobile payments yet. They both fell into disrepair really quickly too ha!

I've been following the Bitcoin ATM space since the start, I really doubt there were any there before 2014 unless it was a temporary thing self-built DIY thing by an enthusiast.

I don't know much about how those things would have worked, I can't remember exactly when it was but my memory says it was probably September of either year, because I'd spoken to a guy representing the company doing it and it was a machine that could sell you all kinds of currency, mostly online game currency that's really big in Southeast Asia, and he said you could also buy Bitcoin. So it wasn't a Bitcoin ATM specifically, though I know it was at some point listed in some ATM radar sites.

About a year after talking to the guy, I was asked to cover some opinion piece about Silk Road (much later after it was closed), and then a time after that a review of the film Dope, which was the last thing I did in that work about Bitcoin. Wish I could retrieve all this but the paper I worked for closed down in 2016.

Mind you, I had not myself used Bitcoin in any way during this time! The main reason was another long story related to e-gold;)

[Lordhermes]

In my country there is only one position of atm machine which is situated far away from me in another city, which I can't pay certain high amount of transportation fee to make use of it. Although I just have a feeling that I miss the vibes and experience, buying/selling with ATM machine will give me, on my end I usually sell and buy my bitcoin through a p2p means which is not giving me the free mind of transacting.

To be frankly speaking, Bitcoin ATM machine will give you a good sense of humor on how the civilization of blockchain and cryptocurrency had gone so far more than before during the old 2013 days, therefore you will realize how decentralization is taking over gradually, I'm just hoping I can't make use of or rather visit other civilised tools in the crypto space like that of the large mining farm, also ordered hardware wallet, and lastly the ATM machine.

[pawanjain]

It's good that you at least have a bitcoin ATM nearby your location which you can visit to check it out.
In my case there was just one bitcoin ATM which the RBI seized as it was not having the permissions to be called as a ATM.
It was more of a Kiosk. I did a search and found out that there's one more ATM in India but unfortunately it is also reported as disabled.

https://coinatmradar.com/country/99/bitcoin-atm-india/

[Rikafip]

For the last couple of years bitcoin ATMs were my preferred way of cashing out simply because they didn't require KYC (at least not in my country) and fee was somewhat reasonable (~4 %) but unfortunately ATM in my town increased the fee to approximately 6.5 % last year and that is something I am simply not willing to give anymore.

I do understand that owner has a lot of expenses and that profit margin ain't big for sure when he pays the rent for the place ( owner has 2 ATMs there) and all the taxes but still I felt like being robbed so I found other ways of cashing out while avoiding using my bank account.

@The Pharmacist I am just curious, how much is the fee at the ATM you are using?

[bandungan]

in my country there was a bitcoin atm but it was banned by the government and closed. I saw the first time like a dream even though in the end it could not last long in my country, but I think it is already a good benefit. maybe i think every country should adopt bitcoin atm for easier and better transaction.

[seoincorporation]

Hey Pharmacist, it would be nice if you share with us the way that you search for old thread, as we know the search tool in this forum isn't the best, so, I'm sure you are using another method and it would be nice to know how you do it.

As you say, in the early days we have a lot of ATH's, when BTC hits $10 for the first time, when it hit $100, when it gets up to $1000 and in those moments the early investors feel like there was really multiplying their money. and some wise people keep holding until now.

[famososMuertos]

Yeah, it is an issue that has been around for quite some time, and they have been an area of entrepreneurship that was launched by nature of the traditional currency (fiat) that we handle, so how not to use a bitcoin ATM to link the currency digital with the real world.

This topic reminded me of a pic where Gavin Andresen appears who is shown in a group that is developing this type of business.

Hoy ha estado Gavin Andresen por aqui por San Francisco, se ha pasado un momento por nuestra oficina. 

Source: BTCPoint /Text at the Quote : "Today Gavin Andresen has been here in San Francisco, he has visited by our office for a moment"
_____-
On the subject of using them I think that as soon as I have the opportunity I will take a selfie with any bitcoin ATM, in fact I think that one should check if there is an ATM in your area or when you travel, whether you use it or not it is a matter of "priorities".

[galestorm]

Bitcoin is relatively new to that year, 2 years after bitcoin was created to be exact. A few people understood its concept and bitcoins+ATMs isnt much of a discussion. I read the thread that you provided, some of the people there were skeptical of having Bitcoin ATMs since its purpose was to only convert bitcoin to fiat money, which opposed the idea of bitcoin only revolving in the digital platform. Though the concept of bitcoin ATMs is convenient for some, since not all of us are holders and we need fiat money to purchase goods from time to time.

[Amejoaquim]

Yaapp totally Agree!

It's just early and the new beginning for bitcoin future.

If we see the progress of the bitcoin since 2011, i believe the Price of bitcoin will reach more than 60k 600k or maybe more.

[MrcMrc]

The idea of bitcoin ATM may have come into existence with bitcoin because bitcoin developers would have to consider how to make bitcoin more accessible to it user at an effortless state and bitcoin ATM will do that job since most bitcoin user never want to walk into the bank because of KYC before buying bitcoin or making transactions using bitcoin. BTC ATMs have been around for a long time but their topics were mostly overlooked in the past until recently when the need for them increased and more and more new bitcoin ATMs being installed around the globe.