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A Short History Of The World’s 400 Bitcoin ATM Machines

A Short History Of The World’s 400 Bitcoin ATM Machines

From CoinTelegraph. Story by Diana Ngo.

In less than two years, the number of Bitcoin ATM machines across the globe has topped 400 — quite a leap since Oct. 28, 2013, when the world’s first Bitcoin ATM was installed in a downtown Vancouver coffee shop.

That first machine, a Robocoin two-way bitcoin ATM, generated lots of buzz, processing the equivalent of more than $100,000 Canadian dollars its first eight days of service in 348 transactions.

An ATM is installed every two days, outlining the growing demand, according to Coin ATM Radar, a website that tracks the bitcoin ATM industry.

Operators are reportedly making $1ooo-to-$3,000 US monthly off their Lamassu units.

2014 was the year of momentum, with the launch of hundreds of bitcoin ATMs around the world, notably in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and one in Africa.

North America has been, and still is, leading the way with 133 machines installed in the U.S., and 69 machines in Canada. Together, they host more than half of all the machines available worldwide.

Europe follows North America with 30 percent of all bitcoin ATMs followed by Asia with 10 percent (43). Africa remains the most underserved continent with only one machine located in the city of Midrand in South Africa. Botswana should have its first bitcoin ATM operating shortly.

The top five countries with the most machines are the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and Finland.

India, known for its growing bitcoin community, is surprisingly still unequipped, and the Maghreb region is unquestionably lagging behind.

…Lamassu ATMs quickly emerged as an industry leader, holding 32.5 percent of market share. Following Lamassu is Canadian manufacturer BitAccess, with 15.5 percent in market share, followed by low-cost bitcoin ATM manufacturer Skyhook, with 14 percent.

The proportion of two-way bitcoin ATMs has been on the rise, now representing 41.25 percent of all the machines operating in the world, according to Coin ATM Radar.

The current average fee is 5.52 percent with roughly the same average rate for buy and sell operations.

Read more at CoinTelegraph.