The world’s most popular anonymous, decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency, has had its ups and downs, but now that Bitcoin ATMs will become a reality, its prevalence will definitely change.
Robocoin, the world’s first Bitcoin ATM, went live on October 29 in a coffee shop from Vancouver, Canada. Unlike the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM about which I wrote a few months ago, the ATM made by Robocoin can convert fiat currency to Bitcoin and vice versa. The intention of this ATM manufacturer is to place more of these in Canada and if everything goes as planned, a global expansion shouldn’t surprise anyone. In fact, the company’s blog mentions that Robocoin has received inquiries from more than 20 regions including Australia, Czech Republic, Kenya, Ireland, the Philippines and Thailand.
On its blog, the company also expresses the enthusiasm of putting together the world’s first Bitcoin ATM: “We are incredibly passionate about the product we’ve put together. Robocoin will be the easiest, quickest, most convenient way to both buy and sell bitcoin ever. Say goodbye to pesky bank wires, archaic verification processes, and weeks of waiting time to get money converted. Using only the best bank grade hardware, Robocoin is capable of instantly handling transactions in the thousands of dollars. Not only does this provide incredible convenience for Bitcoin owners, but this also has the potential to change the entire remittance industry.”
As we’re dealing with valuable cryptocurrency here, several strict security measures had to be taken. The Robocoin ATM employs biometric authentication in order to prevent multiple deposits and money laundering. After getting the palm scanned, users can either sell or buy Bitcoin at the current exchange rate. There are limits for both types of transactions, though. For example, people can buy Bitcoins worth a maximum of $3,000 Canadian dollars a day or sell Bitcoins worth $800 CAD.
I keep hearing funny reports about people who bought Bitcoins a few years ago, only to discover recently that these are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. For example, Kristoffer Koch, a Norwegian guy who bought 5,000 Bitcoins worth $26,50 back in 2009 has discovered that his forgotten investment has now an estimated value of $886,000. Considering that’s the price of an apartment in a good area of Oslo, that’s one helluva return of investment.
The following video is of Robocoin, the Bitcoin ATM placed in Vancouver. The background music is pretty irritating, so you should mute it.
If you liked this post, please check the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM that accepts fiat currency and returns cryptocurrency, and this video of the man behind Bitcoin.
