chaintimes.com
The U.S retail giant Walmart has partnered with coin-cashing machine company Coinstar and crypto-cash exchange CoinMe to install 200 Bitcoin ATMs in its stores across the U.S. According to Bloomberg, although the pilot includes only 200 kiosks, the broader launch plans to eventually see the installation of 8,000 bitcoin ATMs across the country. There have been no further details on timelines as of yet.
There are currently over 25,000 bitcoin ATMs at select grocery stores and service stations.
According to Coin ATM Radar, there are currently over 25,000 bitcoin ATMs at select grocery stores and service stations in the U.S. Coinstar operates 4,400 kiosks enabled for Bitcoin purchases across 33 states.
Chief strategy officer and head of research at BitOoda Sam Doctor told Bloomberg that while Bitcoin ATMs aren’t a new development, and can already be found at many supermarkets: “Walmart expands Bitcoin access to more people, though, and gives it further legitimacy among skeptics, should they roll it out beyond an initial pilot.”
The Bitcoin ATMs have an 11% surcharge.
Bitcoin ATMs have an 11% surcharge, a 4% fee for the Bitcoin option, and an additional 7% cash exchange fee. As a point of comparison, popular crypto trading platforms Binance and Coinbase charge 3% to 4.5% and 3.99% for debit and credit card purchases, respectively. It is free to make a direct deposit from a bank account to a Binance or Coinbase wallet. The news was welcomed as a sign of mainstream adoption by some, including influencer Lark Davis who said, “Wal Mart selling Bitcoin now… cool!” However, other users were not happy about the high fees.