Topic: Bitcoin ATMs should target developing and third world countries - page 6. (Read 1328 times)

Operating an ATM without the banks permission is illegal in India. Although the founders did everything they can to use ther term "Kiosks" in their internal company documents, the Indian media used the term ATM everywhere. Due to this and the fact thay they didn't have a proper bank account to store fiat, they were forced to shut down.

Bitcoin ATM's are made for profit, because they have big difference in buy and sell price and big transaction fees. So it isn't really profitable for those companies to put the ATM's in non developed countries because they can put them in big cities where Bitcoin is endorsed and adopted so they can make a lot of money.

Yes, I think you're right. However, I believe that Bitcoin ATM manufacturers mainly install them in the developed countries for greater legal certainties that they found there rather than in the developing countries and also because, being companies, they have to make profits. In the richest countries, there are more probably more customers and more transactions that let them earn money.

I don't know who are the guys using ATM nowadays. It is much more easier to get BTC from the online exchanges.

yes i got this idea too but  in developing counties banks and all the financial institutions belong to the politician .. so they know what bitcoin can do to stop them from cheating and stealing peoples money so they are trying to everything they can to paint bitcoin and other Altcoin as a scam..  I am from West Africa Ghana ..  Bank of Ghana has officially announce crypto as a scam and ponzi scheme .. So its hard to get people to trust bitcoin in my country now ..  But very soon me and my team will start putting  Bitcoin ATM in my county  ..

If you were right, Unocoin would not have to close their ATM. It is closed till date.

Source for this?
Note that the fact that there is no legislation about it doesn't make it legal.


Yeah, the truth nobody wants to hear.
Bitcoin business are not about principles, dreams, blue unicorns, but like others business about one thing: Profit!!!
And you won't make a profit if the richest guy in town is earning barely two times the transaction fee a day.

Every time I read about the 3rd world countries here on btctalk I wonder what is this obsession people have with them, thinking bitcoin will start a new revolution and suddenly because of a few satoshis Mali will surpass Japan.

          Bitcoin ATMs will go where there is a request for them. People in developed countries know the crypto market well, so demand is high. I think the bitcoin ATM number will grow in developing countries, when more and more people will discover the crypto market and use cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, the countries of the world 3 are strong with poor people, so the implementation of ATMs will be very difficult or almost impossible.

I agree focusing only on developed countries like USA, Canada,Japan can make a imbalance on the use of bitcoin in the world but when putting ATM machines in developing countries people should consider about there technological advancement too because even the world is very developed in technology still majority of developing country people have very low knowledge of using even basic technological facilities so ATM machines should be placed by considering essential facts for more balance to increase btc users

well, speaking about majority, my point was that they don't really care much about that kind of anonymity that ATMs and "cash" provides for them which is why purchasing from a bitcoin ATM costs more in first place. they want more convenient ways to purchase bitcoin and at a cheaper rate. and exchanges can provide that for them. specially some local exchange that doesn't require oversees wire transfer of money with high fees to get to foreign exchanges like Coinbase, bitstam,...

Bitcoins vouchers can be bought from Amazon these days and be fulfilled by global stores. What developing country needs is a quick access of funds, ATMs provide that. Moreover Cash cannot be traced, an online bank transfer can be traced, and the person can be flagged.

I agree, small steps though can improve the experience.

What the media didn't cover was that the arrest was false. The government or the bank did not authorize it, but rather policemen acted on their own behalf. Once the matter was cleared, the founder was free to go.

as far as I know ATMs have higher fees and in short it would cost you more to buy from an ATM compared to buying using most other methods. that means ATM machines only have a certain client type, they are not exactly for increasing adoption. at least not yet.
the developing countries first need some regular places such as exchanges to buy bitcoin at then move to additional options for special purposes such as ATMs. otherwise it will be an unused option in my opinion.

The problem is that most of these developed countries where these ATMs are manufactured and distributed are getting good returns on their investment, because these ATMs are getting a lot of traffic in developed countries and if something goes wrong, then they have maintenance technicians close at hand.

Distributing these machines to developing countries comes with a lot of challenges, like regulatory differences, currency exchange rates , taxes and less traffic.     

Poor countries have rampant corruption, which means risks and additional costs in form of bribes for business operators. Additionally, you'll have to expect much smaller volumes from poor countries, so it would be much harder to make profits with a business that relies on fees. You can look at localbitcoins or coinmarketcap to see yourself how low in the volume in Venezuela or Zimbabwe when compared to Western countries.

But the prices are very high, I would still prefer to use an online exchange and get my money within 24h or less. Also, most, if not all, the machines need to scan your ID and some even take a photo of your face. I admit it can be useful in an emergency in a foreign country but other than that....

Yes the improvement of Bitcoin ATM centres will be the most satisfying things for the development of the Bitcoin in the minds of the Bitcoin users so targeting the countries like more improved developed countries will be more useful for quick reach the Bitcoin so it will be the right idea.

In most African countries bitcoin is legal and there is freedom to trade, own, buy and sell. I do not think the lack of a active regulations from the government should limit the growth of the industry, when it is considered legal and acceptable by that government. The citizens are the community base in those nations

Therefore, they should be told that crypto currencies make it very easy for them to do anything to translate, maybe if all of them have been told or learned about crypto maybe in some countries that do not have Bitcoin ATMs or who don't know for sure they will agree that it's good in their future.

Unfortunately in Venezuela it would probably infringe the draconian foreign currency exchange control. Even if you obeyed the government "official" exchange rate, you would immediately go bankrupt. Example: The current official rate is 1000 VES for 1 USD, street price is 2500 VES for 1 USD. Very few people can get the official price (and its actually a lie, inside that system most people end paying closer to the street price anyway).

Also, even if you managed to trade at the street/localbitcoins exchange rate, the time you take to collect the fiat from the ATM and exchange it back for bitcoin (or anything else) it would be worth half or less (even if you emptied the box daily).

There have been banknote shortages in the past, and its probable that will repeat again, as those in power keep feeding inflation because they think they can command the market by force. And you'd also need an insanely large amount of bank notes for a few satoshis.

Perhaps you have not noticed but they are selling higher than buying at localbitcoins, that should give you a hint of the time it takes to complete the loop:



And if that occurs to an online exchange, just imagine having to physically keep and maintain the ATM, which would need to remain in private property and under surveillance. Venezuela is a country where regular Bank ATMs are vandalized if left unprotected (there are banks that keep them inside). I'm sure you will find a similar criminality problem in most poor countries, where this is ironically most needed...