Coinstar is partnering with Coinme to allow users to buy Bitcoin at Coinstar kiosks in select states.

Few things say that you’re in a grocery store like seeing a Coinstar kiosk. College students and those on limited incomes know the visceral joy of pouring a heap of loose change into the machines to convert into cold, hard cash or store credit. A new partnership is now allowing people in select U.S. states to use the kiosks to buy bitcoins.

Buying Bitcoin at Coinstar Kiosks

There are 20,000 Coinstar machines spread throughout grocery and supermarket stores across the land. Customers in the states of California, Texas, and Washington will be able to use select machines in Safeway and Albertsons stores to buy Bitcoin.

This new feature is made possible by a deal between Coinstar and Coinme, a cryptocurrency advisory service that launched in 2014. As part of the deal, Coinstar made an investment into Coinme, although the exact amount remains unknown.

Sadly, you can’t convert your jar of loose change into bitcoins. You have to use cash to buy the cryptocurrency, and there’s a limit of $2,500. Customers will get a code when they buy the crypto, which they can then redeem on the Coinme website.

Greater Access to Cryptocurrency

This is a great move as it further pushes cryptocurrency into the mainstream. You don’t get more everyday than your local grocery store.

The more access the public has with BTC, the better. We’ve already seen that almost 4,200 Bitcoin ATMs have been installed throughout the world, according to Coin ATM Radar. Now, the number of machines where people can buy crypto will skyrocket if the Coinstar operation is a success.

Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist is excited by this partnership and, despite the naysayers, believes that cryptocurrency is becoming more relevant. He says:

People are moving away from gambling on the future price of digital currency and instead are leveraging digital currencies for their inherent technological advantages thanks to blockchain technology.

Bergquist adds:

Our customers are leveraging bitcoin as a medium of exchange for remittances, a diversified store of value for their portfolio, or simply as a gift for that ‘crypto-curious’ family member.

What do you think about being able to buy Bitcoin at a Coinstar kiosk? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Coinstar, Pexels, and Pixabay.