Bitcoin ATMs Hit 7,500 Across the Globe Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

The Bitcoin (BTC) ATM industry has seen a 70% boom since 2019, with the total number of Bitcoin ATMs installed in various regions around the globe now standing at a massive 7,500. Despite the current regulatory bottlenecks surrounding the cryptocurrency, the United States still dominates the industry, with 5,422 functional Bitcoin ATMs, reports Decrypt on April 20, 2020.

Bitcoin Taking Over the World

Despite the super volatile nature of Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s flagship cryptocurrency, it appears the world is gradually warming up to the blockchain-based currency as uncertainties keep growing in the traditional financial ecosystem.

Per sources close to the latest development, the Bitcoin ATM industry has seen a 70 percent surge since last year and there are now more than 7,500 Bitcoin ATMs in the world, a strong indication that more and more people are joining the crypto bandwagon.

As seen on Coin ATM Radar, a platform dedicated to tracking bitcoin ATM installations globally, there has been a 70 percent increase in the number of new machines from April 2019 and since the beginning of 2020, 1,200 new Bitcoin ATMs have gone live in different jurisdictions.

For perspective, the world’s first Bitcoin ATM was installed in downtown Vancouver Canada on October 29, 2013, at Waves coffee shop, and it took about five years, from 2013 to 2018 for the total number of Bitcoin ATM installations to reach the 2,000 mark.

Bitcoin ATM Distribution

However, with the coronavirus pandemic now ravaging the world and its economy, more and more people now see cryptocurrency as a safe haven asset and they’re now increasing their holdings in a bid to safeguard their financial future.

Notably, the United States dominates the Bitcoin ATM industry with a total of 5,422 ATM (70 percent global market share), Canada comes second with (9.5 percent), the United Kingdom has 279 (3.7 percent), while Austria boasts 137 (1.8) functional Bitcoin ATMs.

In terms of Bitcoin ATM popularity across continents, North America occupies the frontline, followed by Europe (16 percent global market share), South America (0.8 percent) and Asia (1.7 percent), with Hong Kong accounting for 0.7 percent of the Bitcoin ATM market in the region.

CoinCloud currently tops the league of Bitcoin ATM operators with its 653 ATMs scattered across various locations, followed by Bitcoin Depot (500 ATMs) and Coinsource (300).

United States-based Bitcoin ATM manufacturer, Genesis Coin holds the top spot in the ATM manufacturing sector with a total of 2,575 installations (33.8 percent), followed by General Bytes (30.7 percent).

While Bitcoin ATMs have continued to gain traction, regulatory uncertainty still plagues the industry in some jurisdictions.

As reported by BTCManager earlier in July 2019, Spanish authorities declared that Bitcoin ATMs are a great tool for criminals to circumvent anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

At press time, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 4.68 percent on the 24-hour timeframe, trading at $6,845, with a market capitalization of $125.52 billion,