Crypto ATMs are losing traction in the tarnished market
Bitcoin ATM in a shopping center allows to buy and sell Bitcoin crypto. Orange BTC cryptocurrency exchange … [+]
The nascent growth of cryptocurrency ATMs added a touch of tangibility to an all-digital market, but that expansion is slowing as bitcoin and its rivals remain below last year’s highs.
The first physical crate landed on a corner of Waves
Although the number of ATMs has reached 39,000 machines worldwide, representing an increase of 3,925% since 2017, installation rates have decreased since the beginning of the year. From January 2020 to January 2022, crypto ATM installations experienced a meteoric rise, more than quintupling to 34,388 machines worldwide. Yet since January this year, just under 5,000 new machines have been installed, with a net of 44 removed this month. The last time the net figure fell for an entire month was November 2015.
Net change in crypto ATM amounts worldwide. Photo:
The decline in ATM installations follows the start of the bitcoin bear market. The initial crypto price fell to $35,132 in January from a peak of $67,599 in November. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $455 billion, compared to a market cap of over $1 trillion in November 2021, according to CoinMarketCap.
“The customers are less active, so the operators get less volume [they] don’t grow so fast and don’t install so many ATMs, says Patrick Mueller of Coin ATM Radar.
Bitcoin price and market cap over the past year
In July, net ATM growth was 572, low compared to the peak of 2,000 in 2021. “But if you compare to the last bull cycle in 2017-2018, there was only around 250 net growth per month. So in the current bear cycle we are still 2x higher than the previous bull cycle,” added Mueller.
Of the 39,000 current crypto ATMs in use, 95% are located in North America. The US has 87.9% of the world market share, by far the most, followed by Canada at 6.3% and Spain at 0.6%. This lack of involvement from other jurisdictions may also explain the reduced crypto-ATM installation rate, as the most fertile markets are already saturated. Removal itself can fuel the decline, reducing the convenience of nearby machines. Europe has removed a net of 15 machines this year, while the US has disabled 78.
Crypto ATMs do not work like regular ATMs, as they are rarely operated by financial institutions and are not linked to bank accounts. Rather, users deposit cash that will be transferred as cryptocurrency to a digital wallet through a QR code. Despite the integration of new cryptocurrencies, bitcoin continues to be the leading asset with over 99% of crypto ATMs supporting it.
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