Photo: Coinme / Instagram
Coinme, following the mission to help people to understand and utilize the power of cryptocurrencies globally, announced the extension of its services. Starting from May 22 people can buy Bitcoin at 2,200 Coinstar kiosks in 21 states and District Columbia. Just as a reminder, last month its services were available in 19 states at around 2,100 kiosks. Neil Bergquist, Coinme cofounder and CEO noted:
“Bitcoin and other digital currencies offer unique benefits to consumers — including the potential for more cost-effective and faster remittances to family and friends. We’re thrilled to team up with Coinstar to make Bitcoin more accessible to consumers than ever before and offer a key component for the new digital currency economy.”
Coinme became the first licensed Bitcoin ATM operator in the U.S. in 2014. They are trying to make true the idea that money should be accessible anywhere. Therefore, in collaboration with Coinstar they decided to put Bitcoin ATMs in the grocery stores such as Albertsons, Jewel, Safeway, Shaw’s or Save Mart and others. The service launched in January 2019 seemed a bit crazy, but now we can acknowledge that it is more than successful. Jim Gaherity, Coinstar CEO, said:
“The response to being able to purchase Bitcoin at Coinstar kiosks has been extremely positive with overwhelming demand by both consumers and new retailer partners. We are incredibly pleased with this collaboration with Coinme and are eager to continue expanding to new markets in the coming months.”
Up to day Coinstar operates around 20,000 Bitcoin-buying kiosks in 9 countries. According to the CoinATMRadar most of them are situated in the U.S (around 3000), others can be found in Canada (700 ATMs), Austria (270 ATMs), the United Kingdom (238 ATMs) and other countries. It is the largest multi-national network of self-service coin-counting kiosks that provides customers with such options as coin-to-cash, coin-to-eGift card and charity donation.
So is it so simple and convenient to use the ATM as they declare? According to the manual, you choose the available Coinstar kiosk, accept the terms and enter your phone number. After that you insert the cash and receive a voucher with Bitcoin code, that can be claimed on Coinme website. Be aware that you can only use bills not coins and the amount should not exceed $2,500.
Although users preferred online ways to get digital assets, cryptocurrency ATMs are gaining more and more popularity proving that it is really easy. At this moment Coinme provides its services in 21 state, including main crypto markets in Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Washington D.C. And we strongly believe that this number is going to increase in the nearest future.
