The installations of Bitcoin ATMs around the world have risen in recent days, Coin ATM Radar has highlighted in its recent report. In the first ten days of June alone, over 882 Bitcoin ATMs have reportedly emerged in different parts of the world. The rise in the number of these fiat-to-crypto exchange machines is being linked to the up-and-coming regulatory clarity around cryptocurrencies in several countries. Moreover, despite recent rough market days, institutional investments in the crypto industry have managed to keep investors’ appetite intact, due to which more individuals have opened their financial portfolios to include crypto assets as well.
On an average, between 16 to 23 crypto ATMs are being installed around the world daily, the data by Coin ATM Radar showed in a report.
In December last year, approximately 1,970 crypto ATMs were installed globally. In these last six months however, the number of newer machines cropping up hit a stagnant spot.
Between January and May this year, the number of crypto ATM machines coming up dipped by a whopping 89.75 percent.
Within this bracket, Bitcoin was struggling with market fluctuations. The value of the world’s most expensive cryptocurrency was hovering around the mark of $35,000 (roughly Rs. 27 lakh). Even now, BTC is far away from its last all-time-high of $68,000 (roughly Rs. 53 lakh) that it touched in November 2021.
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at around $27,218 (roughly Rs. 21 lakh) as per Gadgets 360’s crypto price tracker.
For now, the US has the largest number of BTC ATMs, making 87.9 percent of its global network, the report said. The US currently houses over 33,400 crypto ATMs.
In October 2021, American retail giant Walmart announced that it would get 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed in select store branches located across the country.
Just like El Salvador’s BTC legalisation brought along BTC ATM machines in the country, the Central African Republic is also expected to witness a rise in these machine exchanges. The country recently legalised Bitcoin as a payment option.
As of now, popular companies that provide crypto ATM services include Genesis Coin, General Byte, BitAccess, Coinsource, and Bitstop.
Last year, US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had however, warned people against using crypto ATMs, especially the ones that advertise anonymity for transactions.
Earlier this year, UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered all crypto ATMs operating in the country to suspend services citing illegal operations.
Regardless of these warnings, machines for digital assets keep making it to the headlines frequently.
For instance, in February this year, Neon NFT marketplace installed a first-of-its-kind vending machine for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on 29 John Street of US’ New York City. This machine allows people to use fiat currency, credit cards, and debit cards to purchase virtual collectibles.