The World Invests in Cryptocurrency ATMs: What’s New?

The total number of devices worldwide has already exceeded 10,000, according to the Coin ATM Radar. The first Bitcoin ATM was installed seven years ago in Vancouver. As stated by the Norwegian financial company AksjeBloggen, the number of crypto ATMs grew by 167 percent over the year.

Сrypto ATMs are specialized payment terminals for easy and fast purchasing cryptocurrency. Before the advent of cryptomate, investing in cryptocurrencies seemed to be something completely inaccessible. It was necessary to register on the stock market and go through the verification procedure. The cryptocurrency purchase on trading platforms could take weeks.

“The emergence of crypto ATM was a breakthrough in cryptocurrency investing. The rise in the number of devices indicates the adoption of digital assets. However, not all countries have prepared legal standards for this rapidly growing market. State authorities work for the legislative framework so that cryptomats do not become a method of money laundering and tax evasion,” says the Penkių kontinentų bankinės technologijos (BS/2) CTO and the director of the BS/2 Georgia Andrej Smirnov.

In recent years, the United States remains the leader in the number of devices. The number of crypto ATMs in the USA is approaching 8,500, a 127% jump year-on-year. Canada is in second place, and Great Britain is in third. Today cryptomats are installed in more than 70 countries. In total, Europe accounts for 20% of all crypto ATMs, and in Asia, despite the great popularity of cryptocurrencies, there are only 2%.

Estonia is the leader in the number of cryptomats in the Baltic States. It ranks 37th. It is followed by Latvia (50th) and Lithuania (57th).

“If we talk about the regions where we work, then the greatest development of the self-service channel for investing in cryptocurrencies is noted in Georgia. It ranks 20th in terms of the number of crypto ATMs and third in mining (after China and Venezuela). Our subsidiary BS/2 Georgia is responsible for the cryptomate network maintenance,” says Andrej Smirnov.

According to him, cryptomats have some differences from traditional ATMs, such as the ability to buy or sell cryptocurrencies and carry out financial transactions through e-wallets, not bank accounts.