Nine years after the first Bitcoin ATM, there are now 38,804 ATMs worldwide.
From one Candian coffee shop to a global network of nearly 39,000, cryptocurrency ATMs have been around for nine years and are expected to continue growing.
On October 29, 2013, a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada opened what was said to be the world’s first public Bitcoin (BTC) automated teller machine (ATM), operated by Robocoin.
The cryptocurrency ATM recorded 348 transactions and $100,000 in transactions in its first week of operation.
As of October 30, 2022, after 9 years and 1 day, Robocoin has ceased operations and the original cryptocurrency ATM has likely been removed or replaced. However, the number of cryptocurrency ATMs continues to increase, with currently 38,804 cryptocurrency ATMs in existence. Coin ATM Radar.
However, the global hub for cryptocurrency ATMs has since moved. The United States currently has nearly 88% of the world’s cryptocurrency ATM supply and accounts for 90% of all new ATMs installed in the past few months.
In October alone, 129 of the new ATMs installed globally were located in the United States, out of a total of 205.
Canada, home to the first cryptocurrency ATM, has grown to 566 nine years later, but still ranks second at 6.6% of the total, according to Coin ATM Radar data.
Meanwhile, Spain became the third-largest cryptocurrency ATM hub, with a 0.6% share across 215 ATMs on October 22.
According to a July report from Research and Markets, the cryptocurrency ATM space is currently valued at $46.4 million and will grow more than tenfold to $472 million by 2027 due to increased remittances and cryptocurrency ATM installations.
However, like many cryptocurrency-related products, this year’s cryptocurrency downturn has made it difficult to install cryptocurrency ATMs.
Crypto ATM installations slowed between January and May before recovering slightly between June and August, but September saw the net number of crypto ATMs decline globally for the first time since 459 devices were removed from the global network. .
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Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency traded on cryptocurrency-enabled ATMs, with nearly 100% supporting BTC transactions, per Coin ATM Radar. However, other cryptocurrencies also appear to be supported across the network.
Litecoin (LTC) is popular with almost 81% of ATMs supporting the cryptocurrency, followed closely by Ether (ETH) at almost 74%, and Dogecoin (DOGE) at 40% supporting so-called memecoins. It ranks 4th below.
In early October, U.S. authorities warned that cryptocurrency ATMs were emerging as a popular way for fraudsters to scam victims in exchange for value. This occurred most often in “pig slaughter” scams, where attackers pose as potential romantic partners to gain trust and ask victims to send them money. , or in some cases cryptocurrency.
