Buy Bitcoin at ATMs using your Debit Card

By Chetna Phour

Now citizens of United States will be able to buy Bitcoins at tens of thousands of locations using debit cards. Bitcoin ATM firm LibertyX and traditional ATM manufacturer Genmega partnered to make it possible to purchase Bitcoin at ATMs using debit card in the United States.

Genmega together with LibertyX recently launched newly converted cryptocurrency ATMs around the United States. In the deal, 100,000 BTMs will be set up in the U.S. These will be the first bitcoin debit ATMs of America. In 2014, LibertyX launched the first Bitcoin cash ATM, and they are ready to bring another first. LibertyX announced the partnership on its official Twitter account.

LibertyX was founded by Chris Yim and Kyle Powers in 2013. The company operates the largest cash to Bitcoin onramp network in the United States. LibertyX uses cashiers as virtual automatic teller machines. The company has over 19,000 local stores nationwide where customers can go and use debit cards or cash to purchase digital currencies.

Genmega is an independent ATM deployer. The company has added Bitcoin buying feature in its ATMs. The feature will depend on the willingness of the operator. If the operator is willing to offer the Bitcoin buying service, then Genmega will upgrade the software to allow the users to purchase the Bitcoin from the vending machine. Once the users buy the Bitcoin, it will be sent to their cryptocurrency wallet.

The U.S. has a high level of crypto awareness and adoption rate.  The country is also a leader with regards to Bitcoin ATMs. According to a recent market research report, the trend will continue in the future. The report states that

“The US is expected to continue to dominate the crypto ATM market during the forecast period owing to the presence of a large number of crypto ATM hardware and software providers and favourable investment environment (without any legal barriers).”

Though Genmega is enabling the Bitcoin purchasing feature in 100,000 ATMs but it is still unclear that what portion of service providers will adopt the feature. Even a small percentage of adoption would significantly increase the number of Bitcoin ATMs not just in the U.S. but globally.

Increasing number of Bitcoin ATMs will be a boon for new users since the purchasing process of Bitcoin from ATMs is almost like the process of cash withdrawal. According to LibertyX, their top priority was to make Bitcoin vending machines user-friendly. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of LibertyX, Chris Yim said that

“We have been working tirelessly to make it easier to buy cryptocurrencies for the last five years and now are bringing simplicity, convenience and trust to the cryptocurrency purchasing experience.”

Currently, there are over 3,800 Bitcoin ATMs worldwide while the United States alone has nearly 2330 Bitcoin ATMs. The partnership will significantly increase the number of Bitcoin ATMs in the country.