Topic: BTC ATM's installation and business model, any advice? (Read 330 times)

This "legacy bank ATM's" is the part I have a concern with as well, however I have also been told the tech is totally different and is not compatible, although I would assume this is something banks could easily solve (info I have seen varies on this opinion). Maybe someone with tech knowledge of both bank ATMs and BATMs could clarify?

I don't know why ATM doesn't last for a long time on your country, I think it could happen due to lack of popularity.
Bitcoin ATM's could be set up same as other ATM's of banks are set up every here and there. The user has to log in to his Bitcoin wallet account be it coinbase or blockchain or electrum.Then they can send money to their preferred destination or maybe make some kind of payment or even in exchange for the bitcoin, they can cash out money depending on how much they have in their wallet.

Not sure what country you are from, but the reason they don't 'last long' could be related to the legal framework in your country.

In general, there has been quite a decent increase in the number of ATM's installed worldwide, which signals that there is demand, otherwise there wouldn't be much incentive to spin up those ATM's. I wouldn't use them myself, but there are a bunch of people who do and do not care much about the fees that are tied to using an ATM.

In the end, I do agree that those ATM's will become 'useless', but only because of how legacy bank ATM's will offer crypto buying/selling straight from their widely deployed ATM network. Can't compete with that.

Well, first of all, various kinds of hypermarkets, supermarkets, and maybe even a bank come to mind. In those places where people deal with fiat, but at the same time, they also have some free time, including to pay attention to your Bitcoin ATM.

Probably before you start installing your Crypto-ATMs, you should at least do your feasibility (calculating the revenue). If you already did, would it be profitable? As far as I remember, people are still choosing third party companies that offer liquidation options via remittance centers. As it has a cheaper price for services.

May I also know where will you be installing the ATMs? Are you currently located in a central city? 1 or 2 BTC transaction a day isn't really a good expectation for the atm. As far as I remember, you need to at least have an authority to do that by having your license from the city and the department of finance.

I may suggest you read this online article, How to Start Your Own Bitcoin ATM Business.

Thank you, that's one reason I want to go it alone, so I am not hampered by the
 franchise agreement. I know one other BTC owner and they're doing at least 2 BTC a day, but am not certain how many machines his has

Most of the premium spots have already been taken up, and if you're forced to franchise or lease one, then you'll come across clauses that means you can't place your unit within X distance of another Bitcoin atm.

As for how much you'll earn, you should try contacting other Bitcoin ATM providers and ask how much they earn. Then you'll need to estimate whether you're likely to get the same numbers where you end up placing your unit.

thank you, that's a good resource

Thank you for your detailed response. Yes I am looking at locating the ATM in a busy city centre with lots of Gen Y and students and very mixed nationalities. I expect to make more in people buying BTC than selling (but time will tell). I am also expecting average buyer of BTC to spend on average €100 per person. Our target was 1 BTC per day but a previous poster says that's highly unlikely. What do you think?

In my opinion I think bitcoin ATM could be useless at some point. In my experience here in my country a lot of bitcoin ATM don't last for a long time because their is a easy way to buy or withdraw your bitcoin(I think the best purpose is withdrawing bitcoin or converting it to a cash). A lot of bitcoin ATM was closed here in our country because withdrawing and buying your bitcoin? you could easily just do that online less hassle than going to a bitcoin ATM. Also it has high fees so I think people just choose to go with the other alternative you could just convert your bitcoin into your currency and then withdraw it to any banks using your card. I'm not negative in your idea but I think their is other businesses that is less risky than this.

I think you can ask your questions to BTC ATM's producers;

https://bitcoinatm.com/
http://www.generalbytes.com/
https://bitaccessbtm.com/
https://lamassu.is/
http://www.coinsource.net/


Or you can find all manufacturers from here;
https://coinatmradar.com/manufacturers/

Also you may find some key information from here;

https://coinatmradar.com/blog/how-to-start-a-bitcoin-atm-business/

I am not sure BTC credit cards are a "threat" to the BATMs because they still require KYC and time, whereas if someone was in a hurry they would prefer the convenience of a BATM, but I do have the concern any one of the high street banks could jump in the market and kill the little guy.

I think the fees should be competitive, but the fees don't need to be "lower" than online (if you can make them lower and still make money, hats off to you!) but I think people will always pay a premium for convenience. Pawn shops have been in business forever and their business model is not to give you a favourable price on your gold  But obviously the better price you can give, the better for everyone. But IMHO your fees will be determined by the location (machine volume, cost of rent, etc.).

Anyway, keep us posted on your progress and good luck.

I understand very well the problem you are having judging the real size of your market. We are in a very similar situation installing the first machine(s) in Spain. I completely agree that the geographical location is the most important aspect (even on a micro level, ie. on one street vs. around the corner, inside a shop vs. street level w/ 24h access) and also security for the machine is very important.

Personally I can only go by statistics, which show Gen Y is the best target market (25% of Generation Y  between the age of 18 and 34 are now considering the cryptocurrency as a better investment than property - note that is a US based report) which seems like the natural progression. However I believe it is also just as important (or more important) to be in a location that is convenient, for example I think it would be better near the "central station" with high traffic and easily accessible by metro rather than a remote university town.

Also, I saw another report showing that most BTC users are not "spending" BTC in developed countries as most users in developed nations are speculators which has us focusing on purchasing/crypto adoption strategies (however, I personally have only used the machines a few times and that was to sell BTC-> Cash in a pinch, so it is very hard to tell).

I think it is best near a popular city centre plaza which is is also walking distance from a few universities (within the city it is a very high traffic area statistically). IMHO, the best solution is do as much research as possible, then test the market but make sure you are not locked-in by any long term rental contracts, and if necessary, move the machine(s) to different locations.

Good luck!

Do you live in a big city?Having an ATM at some crowded place might generate some transactions,but I really doubt about reaching 1 BTC per day.I assume that you will need some kind of permission or license by the local authorities in the place where you live.If you ask me,leasing and franchising are the best options for a beginner.If you cover all the costs of buying and installation,combined with your lack of knowledge about how to setup and run the machine,you will be taking a big risk.

As for location, you should definitely need to choose a place with a greater circulation of people, and also that place is under video surveillance, you certainly don't want someone to steal or break your ATM. A logical choice would be a mall, because nowadays people spend a lot of time in such places, and there you will certainly cover all age/ethnic groups.

It would be wise to do some research into how much people are interested in such a service at all, and of course keep an eye on other crypto ATMs nearby. What you can do to attract potential customers is lower fee on your service, and support by phone or e-mail - people will certainly appreciate such things and come back again.

Thank you all for your comments and insights, yes there is a lot information on Google, etc , much of it is old though. I was a relatively active trader on LBC and before i started on LBC it was difficult to get a handle on market size and liquidity, even with all my prior research.

I seem to be facing the same issue here, I can't judge the size of the market, its even more complicated because the market depends entirely on geographical location. Am thinking of locating in trendy, up and coming areas of town, but am confused...young student areas or yuppie newly gentrified areas? or largely immigrant ethnically mixed areas?...... once again any suggestions?

It would be great to hear from someone who actually uses BTC ATM's or anyone in the business

I support the fee point. Even though I've lived in places where there are Bitcoin ATMs and sometimes I needed to exchange Bitcoin for fiat, I've never used them. The main reason is that the fees are pretty much always higher than if one decides to exchange online. Limiting the amount one exchanges seems fine, and perhaps the fees should not be less than online. They should be about the same, and this could already attract people. Moreover, I am sure that many people are unaware of the existence of Bitcoin ATMs, so make sure people know it's out there, and the conditions of using it. Good luck!

Good luck, OP.  It sounds like you're ambitious and that's good.

I don't know anything about running a bitcoin ATM, but my advice to you is to make sure your machine is working and perhaps try to get it in a visible area.  As I've written in other threads, there's one in my town but it's in the back of a liquor store and when I went to go use it, it kept giving me an error--and the store employees sounded like that wasn't the first time something went wrong with it. 

It was very frustrating and that kind of crap will turn people off of using an ATM.  I think pretty much everything else is outside of your control if you're buying a machine from a manufacturer because I'm sure you won't be able to modify the software or go against the laws of your government as far as KYC stuff goes.

Again, best of luck to you and I hope you get one going.  I'd love to hear some followup if you do.

Besides reading through the links provided by @Lucius (pay attention to the dates of the posts, since they are not all recent, and some context may have changed since the post was created), the same site states that there are currently 306 BTC ATMs in the UK (see https://coinatmradar.com/country/225/bitcoin-atm-united-kingdom). I’d study the models, conditions and placement of those already in place in the UK, and try to visit some of them to get a better qualitative idea of how they are managed.

Some sellers are selling it for around 900-1,000$ in Alibaba.com though I'm not recommending it since there is really no guarantee that the machine is clean from any kind of malware or not. The most preferable option is for you to build and develop the Bitcoin ATM yourself, you just need to buy the hardware for it but the software and the U.I. for your machine needs to be develop for you and designed for the UK market since from what I know Bitcoin ATMs in the U.K. needs to have some kind of KYC involved before their users can even buy/sell crypto in those ATMs. So before you even plan on buying ATMs you must also know how to fully operate in the UK legally.