The ATMs are in some gas stations and stores in the country.
LibertyX, the company that launched the first Bitcoin ATM in the US, will expand to 90 retail stores in Arizona and Nevada, according to a statement this week.
With this move, LibertyX now operates more than 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs throughout the country. The latest additions are configured at service stations AMPM, ARCO and Chevron, as well as at some Family Dollar stores.
A partnership with Desert ATM, a provider of non-bank ATM services, will allow access to Bitcoin through user’s debit cards at street level. Chris Yim, CEO of LibertyX, said that the convenience and simplicity of Bitcoin ATMs eliminates some of the obstacles to the incorporation of consumers into cryptocurrencies.
Several Milestones
This is not the first milestone that the company has reached since its creation. In 2014, the company launched the first cryptocurrency ATM in the United States at the South Station in Boston. Then, in 2016, it hired the first in-person Bitcoin cash service. Later, in 2019, it became the first to enable debit card transactions at traditional non-bank ATMs without a hardware upgrade.
Regarding then latest development, Yim said that it was a natural evolution of what they had started almost 5 years before. He noted that their goal was to make Bitcoin available anywhere in the United States.
LibertyX had offered in-person cash services in the Southwest before, but this move is the first time that the company integrates with the Genmega machines in Arizona and Nevada.
Genmega operates “approximately half” of the non-bank retail ATMs that would be compatible with the cryptocurrency transaction that allows the update of the software designed by LibertyX. Yim states that there are more than 100,000 non-bank ATMs in the US and it is hoped that consumers can buy LibertyX Bitcoin in all of them.
Increase
Transaction limits are set at US $3,000 in Bitcoin per day, for customers who pass the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.
In the past, Desert ATM had tried to operate its own cryptocurrency machines, but it discovered that LibertyX had the experience to implement the function effectively, according to the company’s announcement.
Yim said stated that they were delighted with the demand and enthusiasm that they saw in ATM operators who had been desperately waiting to have access to a scalable, compatible and efficient Bitcoin solution for capital. He explains that there are not many encryption companies yet since 2014 and that they are proud of both having survived and having thrived over the years. He highlights that they have grown from one (1) ATM in South Boston Station in 2014 to thousands of retail stores across the country.
In June 2019, the Bitcoin ATM competitor DigitalMint expanded to 20 locations in Arizona and Nevada. Now more Bitcoin users have access to the use of that crypto asset at stores that provide different kinds of products and services. Once more Bitcoin proves to have advantages that are attractive to future investors: it is very stable, it can be used almost anywhere and it has ATMs especially designed for it.
By Willmen Blanco
