Bitcoin ATM Deposit Exchange Rate shocks

[Nwada001]

Hearing about Bitcoin ATM machines in advanced countries makes me think it's the best and cheapest way to deposit and send crypto, especially for those who know little about crypto and don't want their identity revealed when buying it.

My cousin over in the U.S. wants to send me a few dollars from the US down here.
I suggested she buy cryptocurrency and send it over because the exchange rate is higher when I receive it in cryptocurrency rather than a direct bank deposit (CBN). She decided to use the ATM to deposit Bitcoin because it was closer to her and easier to use—no identity verification was required.

I just went through the receipts today and realized the machine price rate is far different from the real market price of 30,130 USD per bitcoin.

Out of the $1,000 deposited in cash
BTC worth $7,000 was only deposited to the provided address.
The same thing happened with 1,800 dollars' worth of bitcoin, and only 1377 dollars' worth of bitcoin was received at the address.
People's necks are being cut by these machines.

If this is how it's normally charged.. then I can't advise anyone to use ATMs to deposit bitcoin but rather buy a Bitcoin crypto card from Walmart shops.

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[hd49728]

I just went through the receipts today and realized the machine price rate is far different from the real market price of 30,130 USD per bitcoin.

Current price is less than $23k and you exchanged it above $30k at that ATM. Is it a legit ATM?

Did you check its location on Coinatmradar?

Bitcoin ATMs have different exchange fees that usually are between 9% and 12% in average. Unfortunately, there are Bitcoin ATMs charge you higher fees that can be around 20% or higher.

Those companies must have license to open those Bitcoin ATMs and they need to spend cost for security, operation, maintenance. It makes sense to see they charge high fee. I see Bitcoin ATMs are things to explore and satisfy our curiosity on how those ATMs work. Exchange Bitcoin on P2P marketplace or on centralized exchanges are better, less fee will be charged.

https://blog.coinsource.net/bitcoin-atm-fees/
https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/financials/cryptocurrency-stocks/bitcoin-atm/
https://www.investopedia.com/crypto-atm-6456118

[DaveF]

You should blank out your cousins phone number from the receipt.

Bitcoin depo does usually have fees in the 10% range. BUT as far as I know individual store owners can set their own rates so it may not 100% be on Bitcoin depo.
It's the same thing as some ATMs in certain places (strip clubs) have high fees. Or the currency exchange rate at some local place is terrible compared to what you can get in a bank.

-Dave

[rat03gopoh]

What's surprising, you suggest him to transfer via an ATM for the 2nd time at the same price even though it clearly seems inconsequential. Don't know where the machines took the price reference from, the last time the 30k price was seen was in May last year.

If it were me, the first try would be enough to make my decision to stop using bitcoin ATMs for life.

[dzungmobile]

I've never used Bitcoin ATMs but it's strange if they don't give you information, exchange rate of the trade before you accept to proceed it. It is my thought only. You did those transactions and could you confirm the ATM gave you such info before trade or did not give you such?

You got a big lesson by ignoring a basic rule.

If you try something, try with small amount.

What a dam try with $1000 or $1800 for your first exchange with Bitcoin ATM!

If you don't learn this basic lesson, in future, you will deposit all your capital to a phishing site. I hope you won't of course.

[Cuenta Alternativa]

I know it's not the same company the OP is talking about, but the CEO of another one has just been arrested on several charges and one of them is for charging up to 20% without proper informing:

Cryptocurrency ATM Company CEO Arrested in Miami Beach on Warrant for Conspiracy, Money Laundering

In this second link it does talk about 20%:

Unlicensed crypto business indicted, accused of profiting from scams that fleeced vulnerable Northeast Ohioans, prosecutors say

We will have to see if something similar happens with Bitcoin Depo.

[TravelMug]

I guess this is what we complain about Bitcoin ATM's right? the price and fees are too steep for us to handle.

Maybe for the sake of experience I will try one (I haven't), but I know what's the issues ever since, so who knows.

Yeah, why with that huge amount though? you should at least try with smaller units and see how it goes, and then if you don't like what you see then stay away from it, just saying.

[Justtoons]

Wow it's charges it's pretty high. These machines are in what countries please I haven't heard of them. It's a very big loss trying to transfer 1800 dollars worth of Bitcoin and only receiving 1377. I wouldn't advice anybody to use such machines.as time goes on they will work on this because these machines will actually help a lot in cryptocurrency transactions.

[avikz]

It's super high! But ATM owners are running a business that requires a huge upfront investment so they need to recover the money from those who are using it. That sums up the reason for such high fees. Going forward, ask your cousin to buy bitcoin using an exchange like Binance and send it over to your bitcoin address directly. That will be much cheaper. But yes, she will have to do a KYC verification before she is allowed to do such transfers.

Honestly, bitcoin ATMs are not worth anything unless there is a huge emergency. For normal use, take the route of exchanges which will save both of you a huge sum of money from the fees.

[Cantsay]

Out of the $1,000 deposited in cash
BTC worth $7,000 was only deposited to the provided address.
The same thing happened with 1,800 dollars' worth of bitcoin, and only 1377 dollars' worth of bitcoin was received at the address.
People's necks are being cut by these machines.

If you check the receipt provided you will notice that the price is over $30k which is far higher than the current market price so when the $1,800 worth of Bitcoin is sent through the machine it is sent at $30,000 but when it gets to your wallet it's been compared to the real market price and not that of the machine.

Next time just tell her to register an exchange account and buy from there that way you'll be dealing with a very decent market rather than losing over $500 worth of Bitcoin to a machine she should just do the buy directly from an exchange an we also have some exchanges that do not require KYC before you can buy coin there.

Wow it's charges it's pretty high. These machines are in what countries please I haven't heard of them.

South Africa, United States, Canada, Europe etcetera etcetera etcetera.

[Rikafip]

If this is how it's normally charged.. then I can't advise anyone to use ATMs to deposit bitcoin but rather buy a Bitcoin crypto card from Walmart shops.

Bitcoin ATM's have higher fees (usually in the range 5-7%, at least over here in Europe), but this is far from normal. You should have done more research of the whole matter before you suggested your cousin to use one of those in order to send you the money.

I've never used Bitcoin ATMs but it's strange if they don't give you information, exchange rate of the trade before you accept to proceed it. It is my thought only. You did those transactions and could you confirm the ATM gave you such info before trade or did not give you such?

I've used various BATM machines over years and each and every one of them mentioned the exchange rate so I am pretty sure it was the case here as well. Problem here might be that OP's cousin that did those transactions probably had no clue about bitcoin market price and cryptocurrencies in general so she had no idea how much she overpaid.

[dzungmobile]

I've never used Bitcoin ATMs but it's strange if they don't give you information, exchange rate of the trade before you accept to proceed it. It is my thought only. You did those transactions and could you confirm the ATM gave you such info before trade or did not give you such?

I've used various BATM machines over years and each and every one of them mentioned the exchange rate so I am pretty sure it was the case here as well. Problem here might be that OP's cousin that did those transactions probably had no clue about bitcoin market price and cryptocurrencies in general so she had no idea how much she overpaid.

It is what I thought and why I asked the question.

People just skip or ignore reminders and later complain but they are responsible for their mistakes.

Bitcoin ATMs are here many years and if those devices don't give people information about exchange rate, nobody will use it and that industry would die many years ago.

[EarnOnVictor]

I thought the transaction was old when I first sighted the acknowledgement slips, not knowing that the price was crooked to those levels. The BTC rate of over $30,000 while the actual rate is below $24,000 is outrageous, it's extortion for that matter.

I know that these companies want to gain but this gain is too much, it can't help an innovation that is still fresh. This explains why the ATM transactions of Bitcoin are declining, which is one of the good reasons have ever been pointing out in my past posts in this regard.

This is similar to what Bitcoiners are facing with third-party centralized processors online.

[Lucius]

Why people want to use service with so big exchange fee??

That's a good question, although there isn't just one answer to it. One of the reasons is definitely that people are used to using ATMs, and the other is because they generally don't have to do KYC. However, anyone who pays such a large fee cannot justify it with anything other than complete ignorance of what the real price is - there is no other justification.

I thought the transaction was old when I first sighted the acknowledgement slips, not knowing that the price was crooked to those levels. The BTC rate of over $30,000 while the actual rate is below $24,000 is outrageous, it's extortion for that matter.

It's a free market, and it's nothing new that we haven't seen before when it comes to the price difference. During the big bull runs, the difference in the price of BTC used to be several thousand dollars in some countries, so some even thought of moving to South Korea or at least finding someone there, because then you could really make a lot of money selling BTC in that country.

[FatFork]

Oh, that's a bummer to hear! I know that Bitcoin ATMs often charge higher rates because of the convenience they offer, but I can see why you'd be hesitant to use them again if the price difference was that significant. While it's true that buying Bitcoin through an ATM may not be the most cost-effective method, it's important to weigh the pros and cons of each option before making a decision. For example, buying Bitcoin through an exchange may offer lower fees and a wider range of options, but it may also require more time and effort to set up an account and complete the transaction.

I heard about Bitcoin Depot ATM provider, not sure if this is the same company. Thanks for sharing your experience though, it's good to know that the rates at Bitcoin ATMs may not always be the most competitive.

[BlackHatCoiner]

In case you didn't know, hiding some of the characters of an address isn't enough. If you don't want us to know, hide the entire address. There is likely only one address beginning with bc1qa4yxgr4.

There is no reason in using Bitcoin ATMs now more. KYC? Yes. Private? No. Expensive? As hell. Even Binance doesn't charge like this.

[Rikafip]

Bitcoin depo does usually have fees in the 10% range. BUT as far as I know individual store owners can set their own rates so it may not 100% be on Bitcoin depo.

But can individual store owners set their own bitcoin price as well? I've been using BATM for years, and buying price was if not identical then very close to the market price (give or take few percent) so I am really surprised to see ~25% difference. Is that the standard in the US? Looks more like a trap that you use once and never again and I doubt that's viable business model.

Another question (since you from US): can you get a SIM card without giving your ID? I am asking because OP said it was anonymous, while  I see on bitcoindepot website that they ask for a mobile phone number so in the end buyer might be far from anonymous.

[DaveF]

Bitcoin depo does usually have fees in the 10% range. BUT as far as I know individual store owners can set their own rates so it may not 100% be on Bitcoin depo.

But can individual store owners set their own bitcoin price as well? I've been using BATM for years, and buying price was if not identical then very close to the market price (give or take few percent) so I am really surprised to see ~25% difference. Is that the standard in the US? Looks more like a trap that you use once and never again and I doubt that's viable business model.

Another question (since you from US): can you get a SIM card without giving your ID? I am asking because OP said it was anonymous, while  I see on bitcoindepot website that they ask for a mobile phone number so in the end buyer might be far from anonymous.

Last time I was dealing with this they could not set the price just the percentage above for the buy and the below for the sell they wanted which would show as the price.
Which is kind of the same thing as setting the price BUT as the price goes higher their percentage becomes a larger number.

Without knowing the backstory and location of this BATM it's difficult to know why it's so outrageous in price. Is the store owner trying to get them out and hopes by charging outrageous prices they will have no business and remove it? Was it a simple screw up? Other?

As for anonymous SIM: https://silent.link/#generic_price_table there are also a ton of others and you can still walk into a lot of places and get a cheap disposable prepaid phone.

-Dave

[noorman0]

It's super high! But ATM owners are running a business that requires a huge upfront investment so they need to recover the money from those who are using it.

But the high cost however is not a good deal if they want a sustainable business, this is an obvious drawback that will probably only be ignored for people who really have a pressing need. In addition, certain corporate bitcoin ATMs have quite complex processes when compared to p2p markets.

[jackg]

The best method here is either to use a dex or use p2p exchanges (ie there's often people here trying to sell or buy).

Crypto ATMs might see themselves being banned soon in countries that aren't libertarian hellscapes for this reason (I don't know where those are, but the UK issued a ban a few months ago and they issued a similar one to normal atms charging high fees).