9 Years After the First Bitcoin ATM, the Global Network Expands to 39K

9 Years After the First Bitcoin ATM, the Global Network Expands to 39K

The Bitcoin ATM saga began in a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada. It started in 2013, with one Canadian coffee shop, and has grown to a worldwide network of nearly 39,000. Crypto ATMs have turned nine years old and are only expected to continue growing.

The Global Hub for Crypto ATMs in the US, Canada Placed Second

On Oct. 29, 2013, a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada, opened what is understood to be the world’s first Bitcoin ATM operated by Robocoin. The crypto ATM registered 348 transactions worth over USD 100,000 in its first week of operation.

As of Oct. 30, 2022, nine years and one day after Robocoin ceased operations, 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 to the United States. It has installed nearly 88% of the world’s supply of crypto ATMs. 90% of all newly installed ATMs over the past few months are also credited to the United States. In October, 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 sneak up to 566 after nine years. It is placed second at 6.6% of the total ATMs, according to data shared by Coin ATM Radar. Spain became the third-largest crypto hub on Oct. 22 with a 0.6% share across 215 ATMs.

A July report from Research and Markets estimates the crypto ATM space is valued at USD 46.4 million, which is expected to grow more than 10 times to USD 472 million by 2027. It is likely to be driven by remittances and increased crypto ATM installations across the globe. However, like many crypto-related products, crypto ATM installations have been tested 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 after 459 machines were removed from the network.

In early October, U.S. authorities warned crypto ATMs were emerging as a popular method for scammers to receive value and defraud victims, most often in "pig butchering" scams, where the attacker poses as a potential romantic partner, gains trust, and asks the victim to send them money or, in some cases, cryptocurrency.

As per Coin ATM Radar, Bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency transacted across crypto-enabled ATMs, with nearly 100% of them supporting BTC transactions. However, other cryptocurrencies also appear to be supported across the network.