Coinsquare, a Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform, announced it has bought an eight figure controlling stake in fintech software producer, Just Cash. The acquisition will enable the firm to introduce crypto transactions on traditional, non-bank ATMs in the United States.
Just Cash developed a software to retrofit ATMs to sell cryptocurrencies via a customer’s debit card without having to upgrade the machine’s hardware.
Coinsquare CEO Cole Diamond confirmed that the technology has already been introduced to some ATM machines, a process that will continue until the end of next year.
There are approximately 250,000 non-bank ATMs that can potentially be upgraded with this feature. By partnering with two of the three major producers of non-bank automated teller machines – Nautilus Hyosung, Triton, and Genmega, though he was unable to disclose which ones – Diamond said Coinsquare expects to integrate with approximately 170 thousand machines across nearly all 50 states.
“We will outnumber the total number bitcoin ATMs within a year,” Diamond said.
Users will be able to buy and transact with bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, dash, litecoin, stellar, ripple, doge, among others directly through their bank accounts.
The machine will then offer a printed receipt that shows the user’s private and public keys, “effectively your paper wallet,” Diamond said.
The company’s roadmap includes a full US expansion in 2020, with the ATMs serving as an entry point. Just Cash’s software will “piggyback on the regulatory efforts” Coinsquare has pulled through in anticipation of this market entry.
Diamond hopes the ATMs serve as an efficient on-ramp to the crypto-uninitiated.
“Right now, there is a lack of mainstream cryptocurrency adoption because most people are intimidated by the process to acquire it,” he said in a statement.
Diamond also said this feature will “bridge the gap” between traditional banking and the crypto industry, though he does not expect to integrate the software with bank partners soon.
“One, we need to believe [banks] want to use it… Banks have been hesitant to get involved [in anything crypto,]” he said, adding bank ATMs require the development of additional software upgrades, as each entity runs proprietary software.
The merged firms will operate under the Coinsquare brand, though Just Cash will maintain a degree of autonomy.
ATM photo via Shutterstock