Hyosung America makes the Bitcoin buying app available to 175,000 ATMs

by · July 13, 2022

Hyosung America has signed a partnership agreement with cash-to-crypto provider DigitalMint that enables the purchase of Bitcoin (BTC) across the company’s 175,000 ATMs in the United States

Aside from offering its own BTC and Litecoin (LTC) payment rails such as ATMs, bank transfers and counters, DigitalMint also offers software API integrations that allow retailers or ATM operators to sell BTC through their machines.

As part of the agreement, which was announced on July 12, Hyosung America will add DigitalMint’s cryptocurrency services to its upcoming API-based app store, which is being built for the company’s ATMs.

However, it will be up to the specific ATM operator to decide whether or not to incorporate DigitalMint’s services, which means that the majority of Hyosung’s 175,000 ATMs are unlikely to actually support BTC purchases.

CMO for Hyosung America, Brad Nolan stated that the API-based app store will not only offer ATM operators a chance to sell BTC, but also offer a chance to offer a range of new services on them:

“With the App Store, any ATM operator using our retail software platform can subscribe to and download apps like DigitalMint, to enable their ATMs to do more – and generate new revenue streams for the operators and retailers they work with.”

Given the scale of Hyosung America’s ATM network, it can provide significant customer exposure for DigitalMint’s services. However, it is unclear whether the duo have plans to launch further collaboration, given that DigitalMint offers crypto-buying services for only two crypto-assets.

Hyosung America is the North American subsidiary of the South Korean company Hyosung, Inc., and claims to be the “largest supplier of ATMs” in the United States. The company has not made any notable games in crypto apart from this, but given that it works on an API-based app store, several crypto partnerships may follow.

Related: Bitcoin ATM operators set up an association to counter money laundering

According to data from Coin ATM Radar, as of this month, there are currently 33,772 Bitcoin ATMs installed in the United States, making it the country with the most BTC ATMs in the world. In contrast, Canada has only 2,438 BTC ATMs in second place, while the total worldwide figure is 38,430.

Coin ATM Radar data indicates that interest in cryptocurrency-friendly ATMs is declining, with Cointelegraph reporting on June 5 that global Bitcoin ATM installations reached a record low in May of just 202, an area not seen since 2019. The number rose back to around 714 by June, but the figure is still well away from the ATH figures for 2037 posted in August 2021.