Have you, or would you ever use a Bitcoin ATM?

[traderethereum]

I guess I don't want to use bitcoin ATM right now because I haven't figured out how to use it yet.
But maybe if there are many bitcoin ATMs in my city and they are easy to find anywhere, I want to try it because it will not raise question marks by people around the ATM.
I don't know about the safety factor but I think it's safe enough and of course, the company that installed the ATM has security in protecting the machine and its users.
But for now, maybe there aren't many ATMs installed in cities, so we haven't been able to try it yet.

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[slackovic]

There are several Bitcoin ATMs where I live but all of them have pretty high fees. If I remember correctly, fees were close to 10% and I'm not paying that much. Because of that I prefer P2P trading when I need cash - it's cheaper and you get to talk to a crypto person about crypto. A win-win situation

yeah those are the disadvantage of using ATM because of the higher fees when in local wallet conversion we can only lose penny .

I think that the biggest competitors to Bitcoin ATMs are local crypto exchanges where you can buy and sell crypto in your local currency. I'm not sure if it's the same in all countries, but in the European union KYC is not needed if you are selling or buying less than 2.000€ worth of crypto. And most of those local exchanges charges much less fee than 10%.

[serjent05]

It is always great to have first-hand experience in using a Bitcoin ATM but that's it.  As said, I would just use it once for experience's sake but not on a regular basis.  It is a hassle looking for the machine and I feel that it is a waste of time to travel just to withdraw from it when there is a more convenient and cheaper way of Bitcoin transfer/cash out online.

[Anguwa]

From the little knowledge I have or from what I have learned so far, I think before spending your Bitcoin you need a digital signature to show that you own the public address that contain the Bitcoin. So if this is the case, then I think BTC ATM will not be advisable for use because it might require some basic personal wallet details which can make it unsafe.

[SmallDoggy]

From what I have read, at least half of the people who responded don't have access to an ATM. I am in the USA, and in a major city area (New York City area), and they are literally everywhere. I haven't ever used one because I thought it was pretty pointless, and seemed sleazy. I mean, if you know anything about bitcoin, why would you buy from an ATM, since it surely can't be less expensive. However I also read that one user mentioned that they only take a 1% or low fee. For this reason, it might be worth it.

I know I am speaking out of ignorance, but I thought the way it works is, you pay them for the bitcoin, and they give you a paper wallet. I figured you would only really use it if you knew nothing about bitcoin, and wanted to buy some, sort of like the gold bullion vending machines. Or buy it as a gift for someone else. I thought it was a good idea only to buy a last minute gift for someone, which might last longer than a small gadget/technology. I realize that I must sound spoiled being that I have access to this, and most people don't. I think it might be worth trying one out. However I don't understand the purpose of using one to buy bitcoin, if you need to provide a wallet, since at that point you must already know enough about BTC to have a wallet already.

One thing I did not consider is that you would be able to sell BTC for cash at these ATMs. That is fairly interesting, since any other way usually requires jumping through a lot of hoops. That makes me wonder how easy it would be. If it is as easy as it seems, and without providing personal information, then it would seem like a great idea, as long as they don't take too much as fees.

For the person that mentioned they saw an ATM being installed and the owner getting arrested a day later, that make me feel humbled that this freedom would be possible... and that this freedom can be taken away.

I appreciate everyone who posted a reply, and I did not mean to sound spoiled or privileged, I truthfully did not know that Bitcoin ATMs are a somewhat rare thing, or luxury. I am grateful for the honest feedback and insight this has given me.

[DeathAngel]

I’ve never used one & I’ve been in bitcoin since 2015. They’re usually in little, privately owned, small convenience stores. I don’t like going in those kind of stores. In the UK now though they are becoming illegal so I don’t suppose I’ll get to use one. ATM’s must be registered with the FCA & none of the ATM’s are so they are being removed.

[aoluain]

I've seen them pop up all around me, in small convenience stores and even restaurants. I was wondering if it's a good option to buy a gift for someone else, or are the fees too high and it's not worth it? Also I'm not sure how it works but figuring they give you a private key, and how safe is that?

I tried once, selling a small amount. I simply wanted to test how they worked in person. In my case the one I used did not require KYC, you simply send the amount in Bitcoin required, when the payment is confirmet a QR code appears on your mobile, you scan it on the machine and it gives you the money. I don't remember exactly the fees but it was something like 5-10%. It didn't seem that expensive for what I had heard and a non-kyc system of selling fast.

I would love to try one, if I had access to one where I didnt have to give personal details
I would use it for sure to buy and sell Bitcoin but mostly buy. For no KYC I would be
ok with a 5 to 10% fee I think.

Having said all that, I have yet to come across one.

[Michaeler]

As a Crypto enthusiast I remember how happy I became when I first time saw BTC ATM in my city, even though it served only for deposit purpose that time. I've used it and I think this is an actual adoption, time to time we'll see those and other machines alike all around us what eventually will increase BTC's role in our daily lives.

[kaya11]

I've seen them pop up all around me, in small convenience stores and even restaurants. I was wondering if it's a good option to buy a gift for someone else, or are the fees too high and it's not worth it? Also I'm not sure how it works but figuring they give you a private key, and how safe is that?

I want to use it really bad, maybe just for experience and the curiosity I have. Sad truth is my place is so behind the tech, so it is unavailable in here. I really try using one, imagining it gives me excitement. My city sucks and maybe only few folks knows about crypto currencies, around less than 2k people, so I should move to another city where it's popularity is on.

[GeorgeJohn]

If you have cryptocurrency and especially bitcoin ATM machine round your geographical environment, it's obvious that you will learn and also know how to use bitcoin machine, while people don't really know how to use bitcoin machine is because the machine is not in every country and lack of legalization / adoption of bitcoin across the world...op you asked a nice question because is not everyone who knows Bitcoin is aware of existence of bitcoin ATM machine, the machine would have used generally assuming government allow bitcoin to stand firm, so it's very obvious that out of hundred percent (%100) of bitcoin users, is only thirty five percent (%35) knows how to transact with the machine fully, so i might said the cause is because it's few across the countries.

[coolcoinz]

Personally, I have used one, but the fees is expensive as per discussions on the threads above. I'm not sure if this is viable as a gift though, you might want to look at Opendime: https://opendime.com/

I have used one and the fees are fine. In my area there's a number of them and one that I've used a few times has 3% transaction fee, which is fine, especially that it doesn't require any KYC up to 1k EUR and you can sell BTC for cash straight away. There are cheaper ways to sell cryptocurrencies, but they require you to set up full account, go through KYC, have a bank account linked and so on. For me privacy is worth that additional 1% or 2% fee.

[Oluwa-btc]

That will be a very great idea to use , but the bad side of it is that have got no Bitcoin ATM at my ends.
I don't really care what it takes , the rates and percentage shouldn't be too highly though.
I really appreciate to make use of it for the very first time, the user interface shouldn't be hard to understand anyways.

[bitzizzix]

I have never used it because in my area there are no bitcoin ATMs that can be reached by my location, there are several in strategic locations in the capital city and in several other areas such as tourist attractions visited by many foreign tourists.
I hope bitcoin ATM will expand and reach where I live so I can use it and feel the difference and its advantages.

[DanWalker]

This is a great question.  I had looked in to using an ATM before but once I did the research, I decided against it.  I was first looking to see how much money you could exchange for bitcoin without having to provide a lot of personal details.  There was some sort of small amount, one hundred bucks or so then you had to provided personal data for anything else.  I think I had limits of like 2-4k a day for buying and selling, something like that ( don't quote me 100% on that).  At the end of the day I came to realize it was just too much of a pain and too expensive.

I also got some replies from people in another post. I also have never used a Bitcoin ATM because in my country it is not installed and Bitcoin is not really legal in my country yet. But since using them means requiring KYC I would definitely be against them, I think the government is trying to control us through the use of Bitcoin ATM.

[GeorgeJohn]

I’ve never used one & I’ve been in bitcoin since 2015. They’re usually in little, privately owned, small convenience stores. I don’t like going in those kind of stores. In the UK now though they are becoming illegal so I don’t suppose I’ll get to use one. ATM’s must be registered with the FCA & none of the ATM’s are so they are being removed.

that's actually what I'm saying, how would the machine be registered if the country don't adopt or legalize cryptocurrency in the state, it's very difficult or rigid before you can see someone who has used bitcoin ATM machine, because i remembered vividly that in year 2020 someone brought the statistics of bitcoin ATM stands in each of the country and location precisely, so if it's legalize there, people will not hesitate to make use of it, but a process Bitcoin is prohibited in a country, people will not summon the courage to use bitcoin deposit or dispense machine

[YOSHIE]

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Speaking of Bitcoin ATMs, in my area there are indeed several Bitcoin ATM points, unfortunately now they are not working anymore, if you're asking about ever using it, I haven't used it, it might be nice if I could use a Bitcoin ATM.

But if the payment is like a restaurant, of course I have used Bitcoin payments in one of the restaurants at that time, because they can be called the Bitcoin community, so they accept Bitcoin until now.

[Rikafip]

However I also read that one user mentioned that they only take a 1% or low fee. For this reason, it might be worth it.

I have serious doubts about that number. The lowest ever BTC ATM fee I saw was 4% (same ATM now has 6.5% fee), and I am using them since 2017. One of the reasons why BTC ATM fees are not small is due increased expenditures: the owner has to pay the renting of the space, machine itself (and machine ain't cheap at all, afaik 2 way machine costs more than $10k) and on top of that, owner has to pay the taxes on the profit he makes. So yeah, I don't see how 1% fee is possible.

I know I am speaking out of ignorance, but I thought the way it works is, you pay them for the bitcoin, and they give you a paper wallet

Not really. Let me quote my previous answer

The way it works is simple: you choose on ATM the amount of BTC you wanna buy ( for example $100 worth of BTC), then the machine scans qr code of your wallet so it has the address where BTC will go, and in the end you insert the bills in the machine and that's about it. BTC will be sent to your address and you will get a receipt.

One thing I did not consider is that you would be able to sell BTC for cash at these ATMs. That is fairly interesting, since any other way usually requires jumping through a lot of hoops. That makes me wonder how easy it would be. If it is as easy as it seems, and without providing personal information, then it would seem like a great idea, as long as they don't take too much as fees.

Procedure of selling BTC is simple as well: You choose the amount of BTC (in dollars, euros etc) you wanna sell ( usually its some round number like $100, $200, $500 etc) and when you chose the amount, QR code of the address where you have to send BTC appears on the screen of ATM. You take your mobile wallet, scan the code and send BTC. When you did that, ATM prints out a piece of paper on with QR code which you will scan on BTC ATM once transaction gets few confirmations (ATM I am usually using asks for 2 confirmations). If I am in a hurry I use higher fee to get it done asap, but usually I just go in a bar and have a beer while waiting for confirmation.

[Ale88]

I've seen them pop up all around me, in small convenience stores and even restaurants. I was wondering if it's a good option to buy a gift for someone else, or are the fees too high and it's not worth it? Also I'm not sure how it works but figuring they give you a private key, and how safe is that?

I never bought bitcoin from an ATM and probably I won't do it in the future either. High commissions, personal informations, very high spread... If you want to try just for fun it could be ok, but if someone has a little experience I really don't see the point unless you absolutely need some satoshi and that's the only feasible way.

[SmallDoggy]

I have serious doubts about that number. The lowest ever BTC ATM fee I saw was 4% (same ATM now has 6.5% fee),

Ahh...ok even 1% may be a lot depending...

Procedure of selling BTC is simple as well: You choose the amount of BTC (in dollars, euros etc) you wanna sell ( usually its some round number like $100, $200, $500 etc) and when you chose the amount, QR code of the address where you have to send BTC appears on the screen of ATM. You take your mobile wallet, scan the code and send BTC. When you did that, ATM prints out a piece of paper on with QR code which you will scan on BTC ATM once transaction gets few confirmations (ATM I am usually using asks for 2 confirmations). If I am in a hurry I use higher fee to get it done asap, but usually I just go in a bar and have a beer while waiting for confirmation.

You didn't mention, does the ATM actually give you dollar or euro bills? That would be interesting...and maybe the "future" of banking... Actually my mind is kind of blown right now 

[kryptqnick]

I've seen them pop up all around me, in small convenience stores and even restaurants. I was wondering if it's a good option to buy a gift for someone else, or are the fees too high and it's not worth it? Also I'm not sure how it works but figuring they give you a private key, and how safe is that?

What I know is that Bitcoin ATMs often have very high fees, which was always a major setback for me when considering if I want to use them or not. Some can also ask for an ID, I believe, and doing stuff like KYC in front of an ATM seems inconvenient. Also, I generally try to avoid using ATMs because they kind of show others around you that you've just taken some money, so I don't feel safe in situations like this. Finally, the country I currently reside in outlawed crypto ATMs recently, I believe, so I'll definitely not try using one of them now.