There have been reports of even one of these being installed in Venezuela, and it seems that people is using them, even with the disastrous fees that they are collecting.
Makes sense in Venezuela seeing as how their currency is all but worthless. Bitcoin might not have been a great choice for an alternative currency this past month when they had the power cuts. In fact if the locals were using any cryptocurrency for day to day transactions they would have been screwed unless they could somehow power their cell phones and had their wallet on the phone.
I have never seen a bitcoin ATM in real life, and I can tell you that they are not all the rage in the states. There may be some in large urban centers like NYC but nowhere in the suburbs that I know of. Citizens here just have no need to acquire bitcoin at a machine since no one uses it to buy things at the stores where an ATM might be near.
On top of that, regulators are more actively enforcing their rules/policies, so the risk of operating an ATM has increased exponentially.
I have a feeling that this is another reason why there aren't more bitcoin ATMs in the states. Our gov't just does not like its slaves owning anything but the debt backed paper they print at will. I imagine anyone wishing to install an ATM somewhere in the US would run into a massive amount of bureaucratic resistance which would all but smother their efforts.
People are not in the mentality to use BTC as a currency but rather as a store of value. They hold and that's all. People who buy via ATM pay high fees compared to the traditional was to acquire bitcoins.
Well said.
