Walmart Sells Bitcoin

[Darker45]

Well, it's not Walmart itself. Walmart is just hosting Coinstar kiosks which sell Bitcoin. This is in partnership with the crypto wallet and exchange, CoinMe.

For those who have been into Bitcoin for some time, this may not sound interesting at all. But given the fact that this is Walmart, the largest retail company in the world, bringing Bitcoin to the masses, this is rather big. This is bringing Bitcoin to the mainstream. For a start, because this is still in the pilot phase, 200 Coinstar kiosks are installed inside various Walmart stores across the US. If this is successful, this might become bigger in the future considering that Walmart has thousands of stores in the US.

The good thing with Coinstar kiosks is that retail buyers are allowed to buy small amounts of Bitcoin for as long as they're paying with paper bills. The downside, however, is that you are required to setup a CoinMe account which requires KYC. In addition, there is also a 4% transaction fee plus another 7% cash exchange fee.

Do you think this will be successful?

Sources:
1. https://www.reuters.com/business/walmart-allowing-some-shoppers-buy-bitcoin-coinstar-kiosks-2021-10-21/
2. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/10/21/walmart-has-quietly-begun-hosting-bitcoin-atms/
3. https://www.reuters.com/article/walmart-cryptocurrency-idUSL4N2RH4BL

[rdbase]

This is some big news because as you stated Walmart has the widest range of retail stores all over the united states and even has other chains worldwide under a different name.
Not as big as when it was leaked they would be accepting cryptocurrencies (litecoin actually) at their stores, but ended up being fake news and debunked fairly fast before it caused any alarm.

[DapanasFruit]

Coming at this time when Bitcoin has already reached another ATH and there is that great interest with Bitcoin, maybe we can expect some hefty business with this set-up. Long term speaking though, I find the fees quite high and can be affecting how customers will choose this option. I mean, am sure Bitcoin buyers are already online so they can search for a better alternative with lesser fees. However, this is a good advertising medium for Bitcoin. I am suggesting that aside from Bitcoin they also add other coins and tokens so that people can choose which digital assets they want to pursue.

[Poker Player]

It is not clear to me if this is going to be successful, if it is, it is probably partly because we are in a bullish market, as the comment above points out. What I do like is that this brings Bitcoin closer to people's daily lives: I go to the supermarket to buy tomatoes and chicken and I can take Bitcoin with me too.

I don't see much future for it in the long term, because as it becomes more popular people will become more informed and will see that it is not worth paying those fees.

[mk4]

When I first saw the title, I was like: "wait what, Walmart had bitcoin?" lol

The good thing with Coinstar kiosks is that retail buyers are allowed to buy small amounts of Bitcoin for as long as they're paying with paper bills. The downside, however, is that you are required to setup a CoinMe account which requires KYC.

Ehh, pretty much expected. I'd be far more surprised if they didn't require KYC. This is Walmart, after all. I doubt they'd be risking their mega-company to have allegations of people doing money laundering stuff on their turf.

As for if this would be successful or not, I'd think this would give them extra cashflow, but not anything major.

[OgNasty]

Seems more like a gimmick than anything else given the fees involved and KYC requirements. Still, if people were willing to jump through all of these hoops to get some of their change turned into Bitcoin, it would probably be a good thing. At least until they go to send those coins somewhere and see the fees eat all their money. More companies like Coinbase need to offer merchant services to pick up the slack where L1 has failed.

[Kemarit]

Initially it might create a spark for Walmart and non crypto customers. And maybe some of them are going to be interested to used the kiosk. But when the learn that it will require a KYC, there could be some qualms in the beginning.

So hard to see where this one will go, could be a win-win situation or not. And I don't think it will put a dent in the market.

[bitterguy28]

even what may  be the intention on this partnership yet the best thing is the advantage here in our crypto market . because i believe that what ever news we have as long as pointing towards Bitcoin then i will gladly take this as good deed.

Walmart is the largest grocery store in the US which means availability of Bitcoin in their place will be an advantage to all of us.

Seems more like a gimmick than anything else given the fees involved and KYC requirements.

yeah a Gimmick for both businesses but we are the one who will benefits here   

[avikz]

Having bitcoin ATMs in a retail store like Walmart is quite good for the bitcoin itself. The kind of footfall Wakmart experiences everyday, is indeed going to generate a lot of interest about bitcoin among the masses. People who don't know about it yet, will become intrigued and might start searching about it.

However, this is not something that would make bitcoin mainstream. That is something different and it needs legal support to become mainstream. It's just generating some interesting among the mass and might drive some adoption. That's it!

[cabron]

Its a good news, an average joe has access to buy Bitcoin on the spot market on the booth inside a wallmart store is good.  At least people who go into wallmart and find empty shelves will likely just buy BTC.

I think there should also be a big online store like Amazon or BestBuy that will also accept BTC, this will bring more people to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

[Wexnident]

Do you think this will be successful?

Successful in terms of adoption? Cause if so then just the fact that they're offering Bitcoin in their stores is a good sign of it already, though I highly doubt it would gain that much of a traction compared to the past ones since we've been seeing other adoptions here and there after all. Still, it's better than nothing I guess? The fact that it has KYC is kinda disappointing, though not unexpected. I guess it's still a help in trying to open up Bitcoin for other people.

[vv181]

For those who have been into Bitcoin for some time, this may not sound interesting at all. But given the fact that this is Walmart, the largest retail company in the world, bringing Bitcoin to the masses, this is rather big. This is bringing Bitcoin to the mainstream.

That is what I also like to emphasize. The downside is, it might be making the user does not have sovereignty and forced to hand over their privacy due to the regulatory issues that make them to do KYC. But as a start, it is truly beneficial to the masses to keep getting Bitcoin exposure hence we can hope that their awareness could intrigue them to dig deeper to learn about what actually Bitcoin is.

Do you think this will be successful?

I can't know for sure but all the eyes are going into cryptocurrency now. It might beneficial for them, to keep up with innovation in regard to their own business and they did it with the partnership with the corresponding crypto company. So, let's see how will it go for them.

[romero121]

Walmart have planned for the 200 installation through Coinstar and CoinMe. This is set to be the base, and in broader it has planned for 8000 ATM machines across the country. At present US has got 25000+ Bitcoin ATMs. Among them 4400 Kiosks were run by Coinstar. Now partnering with walmart will make them more strong. Bitcoin ATM plan from Walmart will widen and make bitcoin an easy access to common people.

The increased fee is always a big thing with Bitcoin ATM. However if this changes, then these new ATM installation by walmart will make a change and increase adoption.

[kryptqnick]

Installing ATMs is okay, although I wonder why they didn't make a big announcement out of it and why they are available only in some stores (also, how many are we talking about?). But why did it have to be with KYC? Or do the majority of ATMs in the US require setting up an account and verifying identity before using it? Why not set reasonable KYC-free limits, and require verification for big purchases? That would be okay to fight money laundering and would also allow more privacy for crypto users. It's ridiculous to check every order. I remember living in Hungary and exchanging EUR for HUF. Every transaction up to 300 EUR didn't require any ID or personal data! So why should Bitcoin users be subjected to different policies?

[SFR10]

buyers are allowed to buy small amounts of Bitcoin for as long as they're paying with paper bills. The downside, however, is that you are required to setup a CoinMe account which requires KYC.
~Snipped~
Do you think this will be successful?

I don't think it'll be a huge success, due to the fact that it requires its users to go through a KYC process for "insignificant amounts" while there are other BTM brands that only require KYC after reaching a certain limit!

At least until they go to send those coins somewhere and see the fees eat all their money.

But fees "aren't that high" at the moment.

At least people who go into wallmart and find empty shelves will likely just buy BTC.

Care to explain the connection between those two things?

why they are available only in some stores

Because it's in the pilot stage.

[bhadz]

This is like people from where Walmart can be found have now an idea where they can buy and sell bitcoin on its kiosks or atm.

Do you think this will be successful?

I think so but the important matter on this news is that it's bringing adoption near to those establishments that are known already like Walmart. We'll see more of this soon.

[mk4]

I don't see people will going to Walmart just to buy Bitcoin, especially because you need to create account when you visit them physically. But if the KYC process could be done on the kiosk and Walmart also accept Bitcoin as payment method (with certain limitation), there's chance to be successful.

I don't think people would suddenly be flocking to Walmart just to buy bitcoin. This is probably just good in a way that it would make people curious, and hopefully end up being interested and try buying like $10 of bitcoin.

[Lucius]

The downside, however, is that you are required to setup a CoinMe account which requires KYC. In addition, there is also a 4% transaction fee plus another 7% cash exchange fee.

Although it is definitely positive that in this way Bitcoin is approaching the masses and getting an additional promotion, it does not seem fair to me to charge as much as 11% of the fee in this case. I know there are costs and everyone in the process has to make money, but if we consider that every potential buyer has to make KYC and then pay a pretty high fee to buy BTC - why not choose some online exchange where it can go a lot cheaper and do everything from the comfort of his home?

More and more companies want their share of the crypto pie, I see it on the other side of the big pond - I can buy and sell crypto in places I never thought would offer such services. The only problem is that most still have fairly high fees, and that's why most people still invest using online platforms.

[dkbit98]

This is just a Walmart pilot program with 200 Coinstar Bitcoin ATMs and good thing is that they have plans to install much more of this devices in other stores across United States.
I don't like their high fees and mandatory kyc but it is good for spreading the word Bitcoin, and trust me there are still a lot of people who have no idea about Bitcoin or they just heard about it.
Coinstar is just one of many Bitcoin ATM providers, so I expect competition to react with new better deals, and things should be more clear when you see this chart of all crypto ATM installations:


https://coinatmradar.com/charts/growth/

[Ucy]

The good thing with Coinstar kiosks is that retail buyers are allowed to buy small amounts of Bitcoin for as long as they're paying with paper bills. The downside, however, is that you are required to setup a CoinMe account which requires KYC. In addition, there is also a 4% transaction fee plus another 7% cash exchange fee.

Do you think this will be successful?

Sources:
1. https://www.reuters.com/business/walmart-allowing-some-shoppers-buy-bitcoin-coinstar-kiosks-2021-10-21/
2. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/10/21/walmart-has-quietly-begun-hosting-bitcoin-atms/
3. https://www.reuters.com/article/walmart-cryptocurrency-idUSL4N2RH4BL

As long as the third-party/middle-man problem which Bitcoin is meant solve to make transactions cheaper than the traditional financial systems doesn't discourage people or give them bad impression about the cryptocurrency