Bitcoin ATM network records biggest monthly decline with over 3,600 ATMs closing

2023-04-02 01:43:53 ET

Although the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is gradually growing globally, the year 2023 has seen a rare drop in the installation of Bitcoin ATMs. Coin Atm Radar, which tracks the net number of crypto ATMs worldwide, shows that around 5,500 crypto ATMs went offline in the first three months of 2023.

Major decline in crypto ATM installation in history

Per data shown on Coin Atm Radar, in March, over the previous month, more than 3,600 Bitcoin ATMs went offline across the globe. This is the largest number of crypto ATMs removed from the network, leaving 33,727 active ATMs.

While January and February also saw a meager decline in the growth of ATM installations. About 1,587 and 275 crypto ATMs went offline in the first two months of 2023, respectively.

Ever since the first bitcoin and cryptocurrency ATM was deployed in October 2013 in Vancouver, Canada, the crypto world has seen a slow but steady growth in the number of ATMs installed around the world. In particular, in the previous two years, from December 2020 to January 2022, the average number of installed ATMs was more than 1,500 monthly. As shown in the diagram below.

Source: Coin ATM Radar

As highlighted above, the installation of crypto ATMs never dropped except in September 2022 and the previous three months, indicating its steady growth over a period of 9 years.

This sudden decline in ATM installations can be solely due to a prolonged bear market, revenue loss, tensions between countries and experiments conducted for cheap alternative operations by service providers. For example, Bitcoin Depot, an ATM operator, switched its machines to BitAccess software recently, hoping to reduce software license fees.

However, the ongoing month of April seems to have broken the three-month long downward trend in this regard. According to the data displayed on Coin ATM Radar, 39 new physical ATMs have been installed in various locations. In particular, General Bytes, Genesis Coin and BitAccess are currently among the top crypto ATM providers.

Bitcoin ATM maker General Bytes to compensate victims of recent hack

Prague-based bitcoin ATM manufacturer General Bytes announced last week that it will compensate its customers’ losses. General Bytes experienced a security breach between March 17 and March 18, when a cybercriminal successfully stole its clientele’s sensitive information such as money, passwords and private keys from their hot wallets.

After the investigation, the platform identified 21 hot wallets, which were connected to the hacker, stole almost 56 BTC and 22 Ether worth about $1.5 million and $3700 respectively.

General Bytes issued a statement promising to take necessary steps to ensure customer privacy and prevent such incidents from happening again in the future

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