A Canadian bitcoin exchange is so sure that the digital currency will continue to grow in popularity despite some recent controversies, it has invested in 10 new bitcoin teller machines (BTM), six of which will be launched in the GTA on Wednesday .

CAVIRTEX, which bills itself as Canada’s largest bitcoin exchange and service provider, says the addition of the six machines in Toronto and Mississauga means the region will now have more BTMs than anywhere else on the planet.

“Honestly, I believe it’s the future of money,” said CAVIRTEX’s VP of business development, Kyle Kemper. “It’s not going to replace national currencies like the Canadian dollar, but it’s an alternative, and in terms of where it’s going, I can see great things happening.”

Bitcoin is touted as a digital currency that allows a person to instantly transfer money to anyone over the Internet, with little or no fees.

“Bitcoin allows its users to remain in full control of their money,” said Kemper. “With bitcoin, you become your own bank.”

The new BTM machines will work like this: a user will walk up to the machine with their cell phone, enter their phone number into the machine, and will get a text message with a confirmation number, which they will then enter into the BTM. They will then have to scan their wallet address (a “wallet” in bitcoin world is your own private online bitcoin repository) or if they don’t have a wallet, the machine will print out a paper wallet with a code to scan.

The user will then place cash in the machine and press done, and the corresponding number of bitcoins will then be purchased from a bitcoin holder looking to sell, and then deposited in the user’s account. A confirmation receipt will then be printed.

Kemper explained that every single transaction is recorded in a ledger, which is viewable to all bitcoin users. He said the machines are capable of buying and selling up to $3,000 worth of bitcoins in the Canadian marketplace.

His company has facilitated over $90 million in trading between early adopting Canadian merchants and individuals since its creation three years ago, he said.

Kemper may be enthusiastic about CAVIRTEX’s latest venture, but the bitcoin skeptics remain. There are still many establishments that don’t accept it, and government bodies have expressed concern that bitcoin is not regulated in the same way as a bank.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consumer advisory, saying that they should be prepared for large price fluctuations (one bitcoin currently goes for about $637 on the CAVIRTEX exchange, versus less than $100 this time last year), and that this type of currency can be the target of hackers.

Bitcoin’s reputation took a big hit earlier this year, when the largest bitcoin exchange, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, shut down, announcing that 850,000 bitcoins belonging to customers and to the company went missing and likely stolen.

Kemper said CAVIRTEX has never been hacked, and that it has never lost clients’ funds. And he reiterated that an exchange is a place to trade bitcoins, not a place where you should keep them for a long period of time.

“The message from Mt. Gox was that an exchange is not a vault. You don’t want to keep your bitcoins with the exchange, because if something happens with an exchange, you lose your bitcoin,” he said. “We actually discourage people from keeping their bitcoins on their exchange. It’s not a prudent thing.”

He said CAVIRTEX reports its business transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, and keeps a “bank equivalent style of client verification system.”

Ultimately, he said, it’s about doing your research before choosing the right exchange.

The six BTMs in the GTA will be placed in Gateway Newsstands at the following locations:

Brookfield Place (181 Bay St.)

Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave.

Scarborough Town Centre

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Fairview Mall

Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Square One, Mississauga

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