A Bitcoin ATM (

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...

) is a kiosk that allows a person to purchase

Bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...

and other

cryptocurrencies A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership records ...

by using

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-i ...

debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...

. Some Bitcoin ATMs offer bidirectional functionality, enabling both the purchase of Bitcoin and the sale of Bitcoin for cash. In some cases, Bitcoin ATM providers require users to have an existing account to transact on the machine.

History

On October 29, 2013, a Robocoin machine opened in the Waves coffee shop in downtown

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. On December 8, 2013, Europe's first Bitcoin ATM was installed in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The first machine in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

went online on February 18, 2014, in a cigar bar in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, though it was removed 30 days later. Months later, in May 2014, the first licensed bitcoin ATM in the U.S. was developed by Coinme and installed at the Spitfire Grill in Seattle, WA.

Canada

In 2014, Canada was the first country to approve regulation of cryptocurrencies, although it took some time to enforce. In February 2014, the Finance Minister mentioned plans to introduce anti-

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and anti-terrorist financing regulations for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. In June of that year, the Governor General approved an amendment to Bill C-31 that would treat cryptocurrency businesses as Money Services Businesses (MSBs), and the Department of Finance circulated a draft of the proposed regulations in June 2018. As of July 2020, businesses dealing in virtual currencies are considered MSBs by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. In 2018, the

Canada Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA; ; ) is the revenue service of the Government of Canada, Canadian federal government, and most Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects Taxation in Canada, taxes, ...

(CRA) commissioned an investigation on Bitcoin ATMs to find out if tax laws were being followed by users. From December 2017 to February 2018, the number of Bitcoin ATMs in Canada increased by 20%. In June 2019, Vancouver was considering a ban on the machines due to money-laundering concerns.

Europe

As per Coin ATM Radar, there are 1,026 Bitcoin ATMs across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

member area. The nations of the Union with the highest number of Bitcoin ATMs are

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(174),

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(133),

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(114),

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(87), Czechia (69),

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(63) and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(60).

United States

According to Coin ATM Radar, there were more than 24,700 bitcoin ATMs in the US as of September 2021, up from 2,342 in Jan 2018. Some small shop owners earning a reported $300 a month for rental space. Most US cryptocurrency ATMs charge transaction fees between 6.5% and 20%. Several bitcoin ATM companies, including the two largest bitcoin ATM companies Bitcoin Depot and Coin Cloud, charge this fee as a percentage of an exchange rate that is significantly less favorable to customers than the market rate. This functionally adds an additional 20% fee for using bitcoin ATMs. According to comments made by Bitcoin Depot to its investors, the company specifically targets middle and lower income areas for placement of bitcoin ATMs. The company also attempts to minimize its own exposure to cryptocurrency as a volatile asset. In February 2023, Cash Cloud, the company which operates the Coin Cloud ATMs, filed for bankruptcy. This was due to the company's exposure to Genesis Capital and the cryptocurrency crash which started in 2021. In March 2023, three people were arrested for operating 51 bitcoin ATMS in Northeast Ohio. The trio were charged with multiple violations, including money laundering, licensing violations, and receiving stolen property. Several analysts and regulators have compared US bitcoin ATMs to payday loans, as both are poverty industries which increase the cost of poverty by charging significantly higher fees to people who lack access to mainstream banking. Some bitcoin ATMs operating in the US are imported from other countries; for example,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

company General Bytes sold thousands of their machines to operators operating in US. Through Coinme, bitcoin can be exchanged in the United States for local currency at ATMs located in select

MoneyGram MoneyGram International, Inc. is an American interstate and international peer-to-peer payments and electronic funds transfer, money transfer company headquartered in Dallas, Dallas, Texas. It has an operations center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, ...

locations and Coinstar machines.

South Africa

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, ATMs accept the

Rand The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

( ZAR) and transactions over 10,000ZAR ($667) require ID verification. These ATMs are mostly found in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Compliance

Bitcoin ATM operators need to adjust the limits on deposits and withdrawals according to AML/ KYC standards applicable in the jurisdiction where their ATMs are placed. In some countries / states this requires a money transmitter license. In the United States, the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requires Bitcoin ATM operators to establish and maintain an effective written AML program reasonably designed to prevent ATM machines from being used to facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. Bitcoin ATM operators must be registered as Money Service Businesses and are regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In March 2022, the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom. It operates independently of the UK Government and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financi ...

(FCA) in the United Kingdom declared that all cryptocurrency ATMs in the country were illegal and would need to be shut down. None of the ATM's operators had successfully registered with the agency. The FCA cited a failure to comply with

know your customer Know your customer (KYC) guidelines and regulations in financial services require professionals to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship with a customer. The procedures fit within the broad ...

laws (KYC), which track and prevent

, as well as the high risk to customers, due to a lack of regulation and protection. At the time, Coin ATM Radar listed 81 such ATMs in the country.

References

External links

{{Bitcoin, state=expanded Bitcoin Computer-related introductions in 2013 Automated teller machines