Leading Global Bitcoin ATM Provider Coin Cloud Files for Bankruptcy
Coin Cloud, one of the largest Bitcoin ATM operators in the US and Brazil, filed for bankruptcy on January 8, leaving nearly $500 million in debt. The crypto winter and the collapse of major companies such as FTX, Alameda Research and Blockfi, among others, have left Coin Cloud suffering the aftermath.
According to Coin Cloud’s filings, its largest creditor will be Genesis Global Trading, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, to which the company owes more than $100 million for an unsecured loan. On the other hand, its second-largest creditor, Cole Kepro, owes about $8.5 million, a far cry from Genesis’ debt. According to Coin Cloud, the company has between 50 million and 100 million dollars in assets from around 10,000 creditors.
The rise and fall of the coin cloud
In January 2022, Coin Cloud presented itself as the largest operator of digital currency machines in the United States, having installed more than 1,100 Bitcoin ATMs worldwide. The company was looking to expand its networks to major US retail chains, as demand for Bitcoin ATMs had accelerated during the pandemic, far exceeding the company’s expectations.
Coin Cloud’s own statistics reveal that the company operates more than 5,000 ATMs split between the US and Brazil, and supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin and more. In addition, the company offers bonuses of up to $25 in BTC for customers who purchase $150 in cryptocurrencies through one of their ATMs.
However, the growing cryptocurrency ATM industry suffered a sharp decline in mid-2022 due to the crypto winter and the price correction of Bitcoin (BTC), which lost approximately 70% of its value after reaching an all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021, as reported by Cryptopotato .
The Growing Bitcoin ATM Industry
The global cryptocurrency ATM industry remains a growing sector of the crypto ecosystem despite the hardships faced by service providers in the recent bearish era.
According to CoinATMRadar data, there are 33,281 ATMs installed in the United States, representing 86.8% of all Bitcoin ATMs in the world, followed by Canada with 2,554 ATMs, representing 6.7% of the total number of ATMs worldwide.
Despite the challenges and scary news announced by Coin Cloud, the demand for cryptocurrency ATMs continues to grow and the industry remains a prominent player in the crypto ecosystem. The number of crypto ATMs distributed globally is still relatively small compared to the number of fiat ATMs, surpassing the 3.2 million machines worldwide. This highlights the potential for growth in the cryptocurrency ATM industry.
Other crypto-ATM companies have not reported financial problems. In fact, recently crypto-ATM provider BitStop revealed that it acquired Genesis Coin to further expand its reach, and now controls over 31.9% of all crypto-ATMs worldwide.
