Bitcoin ATMs are nowhere near close to replacing traditional ATMs, but significant progress is being made to make them a common fixture in global society.
7 years since the first BTC ATM debuted thanks to a company known as Robocoin, the machines are gaining in popularity and may become dominant in about a decade. The first ATM was set up at a Vancouver shop, allowing users to trade BTC for fiat, and the rest is history.
80 percent increase in BTC ATMs
At the time of writing, we now have about 11,655 BTC ATMs spread out around the world. The number of BTC ATMs in existence today according to CoinATMRadar is a huge improvement from last year. With just a month away from the end of 2020 we are at 11655 machines, which is about an 80 per cent increase from about 6370 machines that existed at the end of last year.
According to CoinATMRader, machine production is increasing every day by about 23 machines. The US alone saw an increase of BTC machines by more than 50 per cent, with numbers rising from about 4213 last year to 9242 this year. The US is also seeing a growing diversity in the spread of the machines. BTC machines within the US are being seen in shopping centers, cafes, transportation hubs and even Tesla Gigafactory.
BTC ATMS by Numbers
The United States leads the world in the number of crypto ATMs, with the world’s leading economy currently accounting for 80 per cent of the machines. Canada comes second with 880 machines, the UK comes third with 268, Hong Kong has 62, and the top five is rounded up by Columbia with 59.
The African continent also has a few machines spread out with South Africa leading the way with 6 machines. 6 machines represent a slim lead if countries like Nigeria that have shown great interest in crypto start pursing the issue with a more targeted focus.
The growing number of ATMs represents a growing interest in the space with individual investors, retail outlets, and institutional investors increasingly jumping into the fray. If the current growth trend continues, we may see close to 30,000 machines globally by the end of 2021. 30,000 is still a small number if we are talking about global scale, this is an indicator of just how ascent this sector is.
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