History: Bitcoin ATMs Over Years
Over time, there have been more Bitcoin automated teller machines (ATMs) installed in response to the expanding cryptocurrency market. Over 86% of the 40,000 Bitcoin ATMs that are now in operation worldwide are in the United States. The remaining ATMs are spread throughout 83 different nations. The launch of the first Bitcoin ATM occurred in October 2013. We can see that as people's interest has grown, the number of these gadgets has been rising over time.
The Growth of Global Bitcoin ATMs Over Years (Source: General Bytes)
The majority of Bitcoin ATMs are located in North America, according to statistics from Coin ATM Radar. It is important to note that the USA, one of the world's top economies, has 34,331 machines. especially in places like New York City and Miami that are encouraging financial development. Canada, a near neighbor, comes in second with 2712 machines.
The list continues. Along with the United States and Canada, El Salvador (212), Poland (217), and Spain (274) all made the top five on this list. The fact that El Salvador was the first nation to make bitcoin legal tender does not surprise me. Nayib Bukele, the company's president, declared on November 18 that "We are buying one #Bitcoin every day."
Let's now turn our attention to Asia. The majority of Bitcoin ATMs are located in Hong Kong, a special administrative territory of China; there are about 145 of them there. Japan, on the other hand, has just three ATMs, which I thought was unusual. According to information on Statista, the market value of crypto assets in Japan reached 65.7 trillion Japanese yen.
Surprisingly, there aren't any Bitcoin ATMs in Singapore! Although this nation wants to develop into a thriving center for cryptocurrencies, all BTC ATMs were shut down starting in January 2022 by the financial watchdog MAS.
Background on Bitcoin ATMs
On October 29, 2013, a café in Vancouver, Canada, welcomed the first Bitcoin ATM. On February 18, 2014, a cigar lounge in New Mexico hosted the nation's first machine. More than 500 devices were in operation worldwide by the end of 2015, and by the end of 2017, there were about 2,000 devices.
The 2018 bear market slowed the rapid expansion of bitcoin ATMs, but it picked up again in the years that followed. By 2020, there will be more than 12,600 crypto-automated teller machines active worldwide. Last year, when the majority of digital currencies reached record high prices, the popularity of crypto ATMs soared. They were put to use in more than 20,000 different countries, including some with struggling economies like Namibia and Cambodia.
Final Thoughts
Due to the ongoing crypto winter, which has lasted for the most of 2022, temperatures have slowed significantly. In the first eleven months of the year, 6,100 new bitcoin ATMs were built, which is roughly three times fewer than what appeared in 2021, according to CryptoPotato.