The first Bitcoin ATM in China, how is it now?

in #bitcoin7 years ago

Many people may not know that there has been a Bitcoin ATM in Shanghai.

At the front desk of Bitcoin's Shanghai office in Shanghai, Liberation Daily and Shangguan News reporters saw this bitter-tempered Bitcoin ATM.

This ATM was introduced in Shanghai in early 2014. The manufacturer is Lamassu in Iceland and can be considered the first Bitcoin ATM in mainland China. At that time, this white-skinned machine was placed in a cafe in Zhangjiang, and many Bitcoin players at home and abroad were attracted to taste it. At that stage, Bitcoin's staff in China had to go to the maintenance from time to time. For example, when cash was full and they had to be recovered, Bitcoin was not enough to be filled.

Unlike the large volume of a traditional ATM, this machine is small and compact. In principle, this ATM is networked with a server behind it. The server calculate the current price of Bitcoin in real time based on the prices of several major global exchanges, plus some weighting algorithms, and display it on the ATM screen for traders reference. When the user simply presses the "START" button on the ATM screen and then it scans the QR code of his bitcoin wallet address in the information reading area and inserts the cash, user can exchange the corresponding amount of bitcoin. Of course, a corresponding fee will be charged. However, on this bitcoin ATM, there is no function of reverse operation, it is also charging bitcoin to withdraw in cash.

From coinatmradar.com ( cryptocurrency ATM can be seen there) website, the United States, in Taiwan Bitcoin ATM reached to1805, Britain has 119 sets of Bitcoin ATM, and the entire Chinese mainland so only above a Bitcoin ATM in Shanghai. However, Bitcoin China voluntarily stopped by the maintenance work since the Chinese regulator called upon Bitcoin trading.
As you can see, the machine's current screen shows that there is no bitcoin available for extraction. The information on coinatmradar.com also claimed that this ATM "may not work." Relevant person in charge of Bitcoin China stated that putting this machine on the front desk is more of a aesthetic significance.

However, on the street in Hong Kong, there are several ATMs that were in normal operation. In a short time, there were three or four people who came to exchange, mostly foreigners. In fact, these three machines are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and bitcoin cash ATMs, and the manufacturer is General Bytes. The principle is similar to that in Shanghai ATM. According to the guidelines, the user took out a mobile wallet scan code and put it into the corresponding Hong Kong dollar to receive the corresponding Bitcoin.

From coinatmradar.com, it can be found that although there are more than 79 Bitcoin ATM vendors in the world (56 Bitcoin unilaterally traded and 26 Bitcoin cash transactions are provided in two-way transactions), Genesis in the US Bitcoin ATMs made by Coin, General Bytes of the Czech Republic and Lamassu of Iceland have basically occupied a large share of the market. However, with the rigorous supervision of various countries, the future prospects of this industry are no longer clear.

Sort:  

A very interesting post. I enjoyed the read. Upvoted!

thank @thankyouvernice for your nice feedback