9 years after the first Bitcoin ATM, there are now 38,804 globally
On Oct. 29, 2013, a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada opened what is understood to be the world’s first publicly available Bitcoin (BTC) automatic teller machine (ATM) operated by Robocoin.
The crypto ATM saw 348 transactions and $100,000 transacted in its first week of operation.
As of Oct. 30, 2022 — nine years and one day on — Robocoin has ceased operations and the first crypto ATM has likely been removed or replaced, but crypto ATMs have continued to increase in number with 38,804 cryptocurrency ATMs in existence today, according to Coin ATM Radar.
The global hub for crypto ATMs has since moved however, with the United States now housing nearly 88% of the world’s supply of crypto ATMs and taking credit for 90% of all newly installed ATMs over the past few months.
In October alone, 129 of the world’s newly installed ATMs were located in the United States out of a total of 205.
Canada, home to the first crypto ATM, has only seen that number creep to 566 after nine years, though it’s still placing in second at 6.6% of the total, as per Coin ATM Radar data.
Meanwhile, Spain became the third-largest crypto ATM hub on Oct. 22 with its 0.6% share across 215 ATMs.
A July report from Research and Markets estimates the crypto ATM space is now valued at $46.4 million, which will grow more than 10 times to $472 million by 2027, driven by remittances and increased crypto ATM installations.
However, like many crypto-related products, crypto ATM installations have been challenged this year as a result of the crypto bear market.
Crypto ATM installations slowed between January and May before a slight recovery between June and August, but September saw net crypto ATMs drop globally for the first time ever after 459 machines were
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