ATM Bitcoin: more than 3600 went offline
The largest ever decline in the history of Bitcoin ATM expansion took place in March, with more than 3,600 crypto ATMs going offline.
Bitcoin ATMs and the record decline: more than 3,600 went offline in March 2023 alone
According to CoinATMRadar data, March 2023 was a record month for Bitcoin ATMs, but for their decline. It actually looks like 3,625 crypto ATMs went offline alone in the last month.
An absolute counter-trend in 2023, which already saw one decrease of 1588 Bitcoin ATMs in January, followed by -275 in February and now -3625.
Despite the long crypto winter of 2022, the number of Bitcoin ATMs globally had also fallen, but without going negative. Basically, the net change in crypto ATMs installed and removed monthly has always been positive, registering continuous growth in installations.
But in 2023 the situation has actually changed, and the trend seems to be exactly reversed to the usual onewith March standing out as the worst month in terms of Bitcoin ATM installations.
Bitcoin ATMs and number of removals outnumbering installs
Despite this increase in the number of Bitcoin ATM removals compared to the number of installations in the last month, we look at the latest Coin ATM Radar communication here the last “new entry” recorded on March 31, 2023.
Just installed @generalbytes #bitcoin ATM at Supreme Mart in #FallRiver πΊπΈ. Ruled by @Coin_Mover. Supported Coins: #BTC pic.twitter.com/LVW3KEc7CR
β Coin πΈπ Radar π βΏπ§π (@CoinATMRadar) 31 March 2023
General Bytes, along with BitAccess and Genesis Coinis current leaders in physical crypto ATMs.
Speaking of which, General Bytes itself had experienced security problems in mid-March, complete with loss of customers’ funds. And indeed, the Bitcoin ATM manufacturer had promised to refund these losses:
17.β18. In March 2023, GENERAL BYTES experienced a security incident.
We have issued a statement urging customers to take immediate action to protect their personal information.
We encourage all our customers to take immediate action to protect their funds and
β GENERAL BYTES (@generalbytes) March 18, 2023
The report on the countries with the highest usage rate
Recently, Trading Browser published a report on nations with the highest Bitcoin ATM usage rates.
This report seeks to point out the differences that exist between countries that host more crypto-ATMs and those where there is a greater tendency of the population to embrace the alternative financial solution.
Initially, the report analyzed the number of Bitcoin ATMs, cash payments, unbanked population, % of crypto ownership and total population in 14 countries with different adoption rates.
This study revealed that the level of crypto adoption depends on how the population is connected to cash payments and bank accounts.
To give a concrete example, Mexico has a population where 60% of people do not have access to bank accounts but ranks second on the list of 46 Bitcoin ATMs. Not only that, 3.4% of the Mexican population owns crypto assets and is three times as high an adoption rate as developed countries such as Norway and Denmark.
South Africa has 31% of its population without a bankalthough 21 crypto ATMs have been installed and 10% of the population owns some form of cryptocurrency.
Following this line of reasoning, it is easy to understand how the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Finland have a record high 1% cash payment rate and almost 100% of the population is connected to traditional banks.
