Despite the poor economic situation, the crypto ecosystem continues to develop. For example, there are always more Bitcoin ATMs around the world. But what is a Bitcoin ATM? How many Bitcoin ATMs are installed worldwide?
What is a Bitcoin ATM?
The Bitcoin dispenser (or ATM) allows you to buy Bitcoin. Its operation is not much different from a classic coin dispenser except for two differences. First of all, as mentioned above, you can make a crypto ATMbuy crypto and not fiat money. Then, your crypto wallet acts like a bank account. In fact, the purchased cryptos are automatically transferred to your crypto wallet.
On an encrypted ATM, you can buy cryptos directly with your bank card. Your money is then instantly converted to the crypto of your choice at the current rate. There are also fees involved. At some ATMs, you can even buy cryptos with cash. Some distributors allow you to buy only Bitcoin, others offer you several cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin distributors worldwide
ATMs are therefore a quick and easy way to buy crypto. Also, their location plays an important role in the structuring the crypto ecosystem. However, it is interesting to note that the number of crypto distributors around the world is increasing. Coinatmradar site allows you to regularly monitor the number of crypto distributors around the world. So, according to this site, at the time of writing this article, yes 39,012 ATMs worldwide. Of these 39,012 ATMs, more than 33,000 dispensers offer cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Encrypted Litecoin (LTC) is the most offered by ATMs after Bitcoin. Then comes the cryptos Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and bitcoin-cash (BCH).
The pace of installing Bitcoin ATMs around the world has been increasing dramatically since the crypto boom of 2020. For example, on January 1, 2020, there were 6,364 crypto ATMs around the world. A year later, that number doubled to 14,051 Bitcoin ATMs. As of January 1, 2022, this number has risen to 34,388! Moreover, the coinatmradar site lays an interesting indicator on this matter. It’s just an installation speed indicator of crypto distributors around the world! The speed parameter is calculated based on the previous 7 days. At the time of writing this article, the speed is 10.6 ATMs installed per day ! At this rate, this means that the 40,000 ATM mark will be surpassed in less than three months, ie by November 2022!
Global distribution of crypto ATMs
To be precise, there are 39,012 crypto ATMs spread across 77 countries. The following are the 10 countries in the world with the largest number of crypto distributors on their territory:
- United States of America: 34,722;
- Canada: 2,555;
- Spain: 257;
- El Salvador: 212;
- Poland: 192;
- Hong Kong: 154;
- Switzerland: 150;
- Austria: 137;
- Romania: 143;
- Italy: 81.
This top 10 is interesting to analyze and confirms that the United States and Canada after taking the encryption spell. In fact, they represent more than 95% of the world’s established ATMs! El Salvador, meanwhile, in 4th place. Surprised? Not so much when we remember that the country has formalized Bitcoin as a legal tender from September 2021. The surprise comes more from seeing very conservative European countries as Spain or Italy be in the top 10.
