USA: Bitcoin ATMs also in Wallmart. Towards mass adoption?
If the Bitcoin ETF has given a strong push to virtual currency in quotes and finance, there are innovations that are bringing virtual currency into common life, at least in the US.
Reuters reports that customers of Walmart superstores will be able to buy and exchange virtual currencies at many points of sale thanks to the installation of Coinstar ATMs.
Coinstar, known for its machines capable of exchanging various fiat currencies with each other, has partnered with the virtual currency exchange CoinMe to allow customers to purchase Bitcoin in certain installations.
"Coinstar, in partnership with Coinme, has launched a pilot project that allows its customers to use cash to buy bitcoins", "There are 200 Coinstar kiosks located within Walmart stores in the United States that are part of this pilot project" . said Walmart communications director Molly Blakeman .
The system used, however, is a bit complex: you put the money in the machine, you get a voucher, then with the voucer you open a Coinme wallet, you carry out the KYC checks (because if you buy 10 dollars in BTC do the KYC, maybe if you open a company in Panama no …) and you cash the voucher.
The machine charges a 4% fee for the bitcoin option, plus another 7% cash exchange fee, according to the Coinstar website and verified by CoinDesk.
This is considerably more complicated than a regular bank ATM and therefore will likely hold back potential users. More "User friendly" solutions would be needed, but the distrust of the authorities is always enormous. Large commercial groups are afraid of getting involved in activities that could put the host company in a bad light.
However, as Coindesk notes, the cryptocurrency ATM industry is expanding at a rapid pace, fueled in part by the COVID pandemic. Coinstar announced plans in 2020 to double its 3,500 Coinme ATMs. Most recently, this company introduced 300 virtual currency-enabled machines in Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más, Harveys, and other grocery stores across Florida.
There are now nearly 30,000 Crypto ATMs worldwide …
In the US there are about 22,000, according to CoinATMradar:
In Europe we are still very far behind the US. There are 141 ATMs in Switzerland and 181 in Spain:
in Italy they are just over 76
The distrust on virtual currencies is very high in Italy, but in the meantime we know that the real big illicit traffics pass, quietly, through the banks …
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The USA article : Bitcoin ATMs also in the Wallmart. Towards mass adoption? comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/usa-atm-di-bitcoin-anche-nei-wallmart-verso-ladozione-di-massa/ on Fri, 22 Oct 2021 10:17:20 +0000.