Yes, you heard it right. A new trend in the bitcoin market has emerged at one of the smoke shops based in Montana, gas stations in Carolinas in the outskirts of New York City. This is nothing but a Bitcoin ATM where people get the chance to sell or buy digital currencies like Bitcoin to get hard cash. The past year has witnessed a good growth of these machines in the entire US, thus making people go frenzy over crypto trading. This has soared the bitcoin prices over $58K. The popular Kiosk operators, including Coin Cloud and CoinFlip, have installed thousands of ATMs in different areas of the country. If it is yet to reach you, then wait for a few more weeks. You will soon get one near you.
The Booming World
As per Mark Shoiket, the founder of Quad Coin, the demand for bitcoin is growing in the country. He went all the way to Montana, following the US map to reach the ATM deserts. During his road trip that lasted for a week, he discovered seven different areas where the machines were installed, including at 406 Glass, which is a known tobacco and fruit juice-based store in Montana. As per the independent portal – howmanybitcoinatms.com, by the start of 2021, there were more than 28K bitcoin ATMs in the US. Around 10K of the ATMs were installed in the past five months. The key reason behind the installation is the growing popularity of Bitcoin Trader in the country.
How Do People Use These Machines?
People have different reasons to use these ATMs except to use them to transfer money online. Some get hard cash who do not have bank accounts; some send the money to their friends or family, while others enjoy shopping with the money. More and more bitcoin investors are making huge investments online to make extra bucks. They use the money to shop for groceries, dresses, and other things. Some of the ATMs only offer bitcoin, while others deal in other digital currencies. The ATMs splitting cash can cost more when compared to conventional ATMs or banks.
As per reports, the fees incurred on it reaches up to 20 percent of the total transaction. Even experts like Pamela Clegg (Director in a firm called CipherTrace) also feel the same. The way the fees vary generally depends upon the location and Bitcoin ATM operator. She claims that the growth of the AMT market is seen with a growth of 45% increase which is quite astonishing. However, several government agencies in the US have raised their eyebrows on the digital currency ATM growth. Thanks to the huge cost, they incur along with the illegitimate activities that these machines promote. Besides, several agencies also have similar findings. They have even reported about the same. However, the reports with all these concerns did not deter the booming bitcoin ATMs in the US.
The Growth is Huge – From Coast to Coast.
Now, we see the Bitcoin of ATMs all across the US except in the states like Alaska or Washington, where these are yet to be installed. Several journalists also vouch for the fact about the growing number of ATMs in different states. Now, we see them coming near the gas stations and other places as well. The number has increased in places like NYC, NJ, and even in the rural regions.
As per their reports of the Las Vegas-based firm known as Coin Cloud, around 1,470 ATMs have been already installed all across the US. The firm also claims that by the end of 2021, the figure will reach up to 10K. There were few experts like CEO Chris McAlary, who felt that the lockdown witnessed in 2020 might hurt the growth of bitcoin ATMs. However, nothing of that sort has happened. On the contrary, growth has been overwhelming during the lockdown phase.
Conclusion
Thanks to the higher stimulus payments coming during the lockdown, there seemed a steady rise in the digital currency. CoinFlip, a Chicago-based company, has witnessed good growth in the numbers of ATMs installed in their state. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as it is likely to grow in the fast-coming future.