The service is available through the LibertyX application. Those who use the platform before July 31st will only pay part of the fees.

US residents can buy Bitcoin with cash at the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores and CVS Pharmacy stores. The enabling of the service on June 22nd was the result of an agreement that they signed with cryptocurrency ATM Company LibertyX.

More than 8,000 7-Eleven convenience stores and 9,000 CVS Pharmacy stores throughout the country now offer Bitcoin as a common product among their options.

To buy Bitcoin with cash, users need to install on their smartphones the LibertyX application available for iOS and Android. They also have to create a free account, enter their wallet address, and click on the “buy” option. The next step that users must follow is to select one of the 20,000 authorized establishments, for which a localizer allows them to choose the closest one. After selecting the store, they have to click on “add cash now” to obtain a bar code that the cashier of the store will scan.

After paying the required amount, they must click on “convert to Bitcoin”. The transaction will be complete in the next 10 minutes, according to the official statement. Users can buy between USD 20 and USD 500 worth of Bitcoin.

Those citizens who use the service before July 31st will only pay part of the required fees. These include the fee of the establishment (USD 4.95) and that of the network, which varies according to each user’s selection.

On its website, the company notes that all of its customers must complete the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements. For this reason, it follows that they need to enter their name, address, date of birth, photo identification and user verification so that they can use the service

Near Their Homes

US citizens have already started using the service. Besides, a Reddit user posted his purchase receipt showing that he had paid USD 104.95 worth of Bitcoin at a 7-Eleven supermarket last June 22nd. He had disbursed USD 100 for the satoshis (minimum unit of BTC) and USD 4.95 for the fee of the establishment.

Another user estimated the transaction costs, noting that he paid about USD 9,613.20 per BTC when he made his purchase. He compared that amount to the price published on Coinbase Pro at the time, which was between USD 9,551 and USD 9,570.

He considers that the difference is not so bad since he only paid 0.5% above the spot exchange price. In addition to the USD 5 flat-rate fee of the ATM, he said that he did not find it bad at all.

In Spain and Latin America, there are similar services, which are available for its inhabitants. Since April of last year, Spaniards can buy Bitcoin with cash in more than 100,000 establishments, through the Tikebit service.

In Argentina, the firm Athena enabled the home purchase and sale service of Bitcoin with pesos (ARS) in cash. Since last May 29th, the company has been serving requests in the areas where there are most cases of COVID-19 infections.

By Alexander Salazar

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