The guy really should've bought a smaller amount.
I agree with the white guy though, for day to day transactions cash is king.
At this point BTC has a few things it is good for,
a risky store of value,
a market for investors to play(day traders),
purchase of illegal items in a semi-anonymous way.
Can you imagine how long checkout lanes would be if more people paid using QR Codes, you'd be like the old lady with a check.
Topic: do bitcoin ATMs really suck this much? - page 2. (Read 6500 times)
There's one at Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley. It's similar to the one in the video, with the hand scanner and license scanner. There's about a 15% spread between the buy and sell price, plus a $5 fee. Nobody uses it.
15% fee kind of defeat the entire purpose of bitcoin replacing credit card and paypal, doesn't it?
However, there may be some areas more prone to that kind of audience.... but I can't think of them.... somewhere dumb and urban... okay, I can think of a few, but I'll keep my mouth shut. Well those type of places are where some of those ATM's will be located XD
If you ever revealed them that is but true enough if people expect 2000% returns on their investment
An ATM that charges that fee is a deal lol.
I don't think BTC atms are of much use now, however its bringing public attention only, bringing BTC to mainstream 
I looked up Bitcoin dealers online while reading this thread. I only found one person with any reputation (and four others without rep) that was selling for physical cash.
It's a choice between the ATMs (which mark up) or an unknown cash dealer who marks up and then could just be a crook looking to mug somebody.
The IRS has proven that it was can levy retroactive taxes. They event sent a 100%+ bill to certain people due to declaring mining as self income, penalties for not paying the prior year and then capital gains on the difference.
The scary prospect about Bitcoin is your country may decide: "no wait you weren't suppose to pay capital gains.. you are supposed to pay the "digital currency tax" we just made up which is 80% on gains. Please pay up or else.."
We have 1 Robocoin ATM here in Melbourne, Aus, but this has been down since 20/03/2014 due to no interest they tell me. i wanted to use it as it seems to be the only 2 way ATM here.
I have used the Lamassu type before and will def use it again.
I have used the Lamassu type before and will def use it again.
Please don't judge all bitcoin ATM's by a Robocoin machine.
With any new technology there is always going to be a time when it will have it's faults and this will be one of them kinds of technology where they will need to release it and have it used to find it's faults and get them fixed. It may suck now but in time the faults will be fixed and things will start to get better.
Not understanding why folks can't figure out that technology has to have a starting point... this is the equivalent of 1981 for the IBM PC model 5150 running DOS 1.0... think it might get better?
I don't think BTC atms are of much use now, however its bringing public attention only, bringing BTC to mainstream
There's one at Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley. It's similar to the one in the video, with the hand scanner and license scanner. There's about a 15% spread between the buy and sell price, plus a $5 fee. Nobody uses it.
15% fee kind of defeat the entire purpose of bitcoin replacing credit card and paypal, doesn't it?
However, there may be some areas more prone to that kind of audience.... but I can't think of them.... somewhere dumb and urban... okay, I can think of a few, but I'll keep my mouth shut. 
There's one at Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley. It's similar to the one in the video, with the hand scanner and license scanner. There's about a 15% spread between the buy and sell price, plus a $5 fee. Nobody uses it.
15% fee kind of defeat the entire purpose of bitcoin replacing credit card and paypal, doesn't it?
However, there may be some areas more prone to that kind of audience.... but I can't think of them.... somewhere dumb and urban... okay, I can think of a few, but I'll keep my mouth shut. Well those type of places are where some of those ATM's will be located XD
If you ever revealed them that is but true enough if people expect 2000% returns on their investment
An ATM that charges that fee is a deal lol.
There's one at Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley. It's similar to the one in the video, with the hand scanner and license scanner. There's about a 15% spread between the buy and sell price, plus a $5 fee. Nobody uses it.
15% fee kind of defeat the entire purpose of bitcoin replacing credit card and paypal, doesn't it?
However, there may be some areas more prone to that kind of audience.... but I can't think of them.... somewhere dumb and urban... okay, I can think of a few, but I'll keep my mouth shut. Where can I find reliable statistics on their use? Bitcoiners always go on and on about how great these ATM's are, with their biometric scanners, their blood sample analysis tools, and their fees ... But for some reason, the number of actual users is never mentioned ...?
I've collected some stats. You can get an understanding of the number of transactions here Bitcoin ATM profit calculator.
According to what I've seen the average number of transaction is about 50-80 per month.
Of course, many things depend on the the country, location, traffic, machine type itself, supported transactions, etc. and also it results in different average tnx size, but those figures still give a good understanding about the volume.
Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.
I know a lot of people here would be fine taking the legal risk of using a non-compliant machine. However you are not going to find someone willing to risk their capitol and their freedom so you can break the law.
It may be possible to set up a machine with low monthly limits treating the entire body public as "one person" Would have to be like less than $1000/day or $10,000/quarter I expect.
That actually gives hints as to how to set fees: if you are getting close to being considered a MSB; charge higher fees.
There's one at Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley. It's similar to the one in the video, with the hand scanner and license scanner. There's about a 15% spread between the buy and sell price, plus a $5 fee. Nobody uses it.
15% fee kind of defeat the entire purpose of bitcoin replacing credit card and paypal, doesn't it?
Where can I find reliable statistics on their use? Bitcoiners always go on and on about how great these ATM's are, with their biometric scanners, their blood sample analysis tools, and their fees ... But for some reason, the number of actual users is never mentioned ...?
I've collected some stats. You can get an understanding of the number of transactions here Bitcoin ATM profit calculator.
According to what I've seen the average number of transaction is about 50-80 per month.
Of course, many things depend on the the country, location, traffic, machine type itself, supported transactions, etc. and also it results in different average tnx size, but those figures still give a good understanding about the volume.
Where can I find reliable statistics on their use? Bitcoiners always go on and on about how great these ATM's are, with their biometric scanners, their blood sample analysis tools, and their fees ... But for some reason, the number of actual users is never mentioned ...?
This same ATM was at the Texas Bitcoin Conference the week before SXSW. I used this very machine.
As the video shows, there are two steps to exchanging Bitcoin and Fiat in any bank or money exchange setting.
1. Verifying identity and KYC/AML registration.
2. Exchanging fiat & BTC.
This vending machine lets both processes take place. The registration is, of course, tedious no matter where you go.
At this vending machine, the one time registration consisted of inserting my (TX) driver's license, my palm print, a scan of my eyes, and giving a phone number. The machine thanked me, and said it would give a txt message when I was approved. It took about a minute for that to complete.
I went to the back of the line, and when I got back to the front, I said I wanted to buy bitcoin. I put my palm in the machine, inserted a $10 bill, and it printed out a QR code with a brand new address and private key. A very precious piece of paper that presents a security concern until I move the funds elsewhere. I'm sure the cell phone got involved somehow, but I don't remember that. I have a blackberry, not an Android, and I wanted a paper receipt.
I assume that I can now go to any ATM in that network, insert my palm, and do a transaction.
Ahem. I always include the miner's fee.
As the video shows, there are two steps to exchanging Bitcoin and Fiat in any bank or money exchange setting.
1. Verifying identity and KYC/AML registration.
2. Exchanging fiat & BTC.
This vending machine lets both processes take place. The registration is, of course, tedious no matter where you go.
At this vending machine, the one time registration consisted of inserting my (TX) driver's license, my palm print, a scan of my eyes, and giving a phone number. The machine thanked me, and said it would give a txt message when I was approved. It took about a minute for that to complete.
I went to the back of the line, and when I got back to the front, I said I wanted to buy bitcoin. I put my palm in the machine, inserted a $10 bill, and it printed out a QR code with a brand new address and private key. A very precious piece of paper that presents a security concern until I move the funds elsewhere. I'm sure the cell phone got involved somehow, but I don't remember that. I have a blackberry, not an Android, and I wanted a paper receipt.
I assume that I can now go to any ATM in that network, insert my palm, and do a transaction.
Ahem. I always include the miner's fee.
Bitcoin ATMs are superlative. They are for people that can't use smartphones. Those idiots in that video didn't seem sober or smart enough to use either.
Superfluous?
EDIT: Right, superlative works. Excessive.
Not the most common meaning.
I know a lot of people here would be fine taking the legal risk of using a non-compliant machine. However you are not going to find someone willing to risk their capitol and their freedom so you can break the law.
It may be possible to set up a machine with low monthly limits treating the entire body public as "one person" Would have to be like less than $1000/day or $10,000/quarter I expect.
That actually gives hints as to how to set fees: if you are getting close to being considered a MSB; charge higher fees.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vnm4xFC2xNo
so you have to scan your hand four times, and give them your id...and your phone number...and still pay only with cash? da fuq.
so you have to scan your hand four times, and give them your id...and your phone number...and still pay only with cash? da fuq.
That's pretty rough. It shouldn't be that hard to purchase Bitcoin, though KYC and AML regulations are pretty strict
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