Robocoin Bitcoin ATM Takes More Than CA$1 Million in 29 Days

bitcoin2-13_David-Ryder-WIRED
27 November 2013

The Robocoin Bitcoin ATM has taken more than CA$1m since it launched in Canada on 30th October.

Located in a Waves Coffee House in Vancouver, the ATM has already processed more than 1,500 transactions.

The machine enables people to buy and sell bitcoins and features a palm scanner to identify the user and regulate their daily transaction limit, which in Canada is CA$3,000.

When purchasing bitcoins, the user can either add them to an existing wallet, or create a new bitcoin wallet. According to the company, over half of the transactions made so far have seen users generate a new wallet, which suggests the ATM is attracting a lot of new bitcoin users.

On the machine’s first day at the coffee shop, it processed CA$10,000 in 81 transactions. It then broke Robocoin’s first-month goal of CA$50,000 by reaching a volume of CA$81,000 after just a week. By day 17, the machine had broken even for its operators.

“For operators, Robocoin offers the best way to invest in bitcoin – a scalable and highly profitable exchange business that’s as easy as purchasing and plugging in a machine,” a statement from the company claims.

It goes on to say that, over the next six months, Robocoin is gearing up to ship hundreds of ATMs across the world with a retail price of $20,000 or $18,500 for those who buy in 2013.

“It’s an amazing milestone that validates the demand for Robocoin and signals bitcoin’s accelerating appeal. The untold story here is about Robocoin compliance – we’re supporting bitcoin’s legitimacy and brand with our Anti-Money Laundering and Consumer Protection leadership,” said Robocoin’s Sam Glaser.

He went on to say the company reached the CA£1m milestone faster than he and his colleagues had expected. “Opportunities are coming in from all over the world and we’re living a wonderful case study on demand management.”

Glaser went on to say he believes bitcoin has enjoyed a surge over recent weeks due to a “Chinese buying frenzy, the favorable US Senate hearings and the present and perceived liquidity Robocoin has injected into the market”.

“The surge will surely slow and likely dip-temporarily. But in the long run bitcoin is still so nascent it can’t possibly be peaking. Until the masses have heard of bitcoin, national merchants are accepting it and universities are teaching and researching it-bitcoin is nowhere near its long term utility or valuation,” he concluded.

Featured image: Robocoin