Your weekends are about to get a little bit better, Idiots…



BiT Capital, a Canadian Bitcoin investment firm, claims to have committed up to $10 million in seed funding to BitAccess, an Ottawa-based Bitcoin ATM startup. Although the funds will be invested gradually over the next 1-2 years, the commitment itself would represent the largest seed investment yet into a Bitcoin-related venture, eclipsing the $9 million seed round raised by Jeremy Allaire’s Circle Internet Financial in October. BiT Capital’s founder, John Bridge will join the BiT Access board of directors.



“BiT Capital is thrilled to partner with BitAccess,” said Bridge. “We believe Bitcoin ATM’s are a vital part of the infrastructure that will enable people to easily obtain Bitcoin. We are looking forward to working with BiT Access and becoming a dominant player in this segment of the Bitcoin economy.”



BitAccess recently installed its first machine in the Clocktower Brew Pub in Ottawa, and will deploy additional machines in Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver in the coming weeks. The company also plans to install its first American ATM in two weeks, right next to the New York Stock Exchange. The seed investment will help BitAccess deploy nearly 500 of its ATMs worldwide in 2014, with the goal of installing 5,000 within three years. In fact, Bridge said that international expansion was imminent; BitAccess ATMs will land in the U.K. and Europe this spring.



The first-generation machines will allow individuals to deposit up to $3,000 at a time into their Bitcoin wallets. However, customers will only be able to withdraw cash upon the release of a second model (and software) early this spring. The BitAccess ATMs will also be the first to accept Litecoins, the leading alternative crypto-currency to Bitcoin.



Although BitAccess is a brand new market entrant, the investment would make the company a formidable competitor to other Bitcoin ATM ventures, Robocoin and Lamassu. The BitAccess ATMs may prove to be more compelling investments for partnering operators, and customers won’t need to worry that their machines will run low on bitcoins since BiT Capital has also become the company's de facto bitcoin “bank.” (One of Bitcoin’s first true market-makers, BiT Capital has accumulated over $100 million worth of bitcoins to date.)



BitAccess does not plan to invest in money transmitter licenses in order to do business in the U.S. Instead, the company is partnering with operators that already have their own MTLs. As Bridge told me, “If you know anyone with a license for Massachusetts, we can get one in Boston in a matter of weeks.”



Any takers?

[UPDATE: Bridge and BiT Capital spoke too soon. BitAccess has confirmed that the company did receive an offer from the investment group, but said that they declined and have remained self-funded to date. Expect a broader interview with Founder Haseeb Awan soon.]