The number of Bitcoin automated transaction machines (ATMs) around the world has passed through the 5,000 mark according to data provided this week by CoinATMRadar.

There is now a total of 5,006 machines in 90 countries where Bitcoin can be bought or sold. Not all such ATMs allow both services simultaneously, however.

Top Five Hosts

By far the biggest provider of Bitcoin ATMs is the US which, according to the CoinATMRadar data, has machines in 3,229 locations.

Canada, which saw the world’s first Bitcoin ATM installed in downtown Vancouver nearly six years ago, has the second most in operation in 687 locations.

Austria and the UK are third and fourth with 266 and 249 locations respectively, and making up the top five is Spain with 89 locations.

Biggest Manufacturers

The top two producers of Bitcoin ATMs are General Bytes, which has installed 1,576 machines worldwide, while Genesis Coin has provided 1,525 machines worldwide. The growth in Bitcoin ATM installation correllates strongly with the Bitcoin price, and around 60% of the total have been put in place since January 2018.

Amid this growth, Bitcoin ATMs have come under regulatory scrutiny, despite not being regulated in several countries.

Scammers

The Australian Tax Office put out an alert last November that scammers were increasingly demanding payments through Bitcon ATMs in their efforts to defraud vulnerable people.

Meanwhile, in Ontario, Canada, the Windsor Police’s Financial Crimes Unit warned on Twitter last week that it had received numerous reports of fraud involving Bitcoin ATMs.

🚨The WPS Financial Crimes Unit has received numerous reports of frauds involving BITCOIN ATM's.🚨 Victims are being pressured by scammers to attend the machines and send bitcoins. REMINDER: Government agencies will NOT accept bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/kRfx2dSh1w — Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) June 17, 2019

At the current rate of growth, nearly 6 machines a day so far this month, CoinATMRadar expects that by the sixth anniversary of the first ATM in October, the total will be around 5,700.