Walmart intends to deploy 8,000 Bitcoins Atm in the United States and has already placed 200 as part of a test program.
Walmart has teamed with Coinstar and cryptocurrency exchange Coinme to deploy 200 Bitcoins (BTC) Atm around the United States.
Although the test involves just 200 kiosks, Bloomberg reports that the bigger rollout will ultimately entail the deployment of 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs around the nation. There have been no more specifics about timetables released yet.
According to Coin ATM Radar, the United States presently has over 25,000 Bitcoin ATMs located in select grocery shops and gas stations. Coinstar offers 4,400 Bitcoin-enabled kiosks in 33 states.
According to Bloomberg, Sam Doctor, chief marketing officer and head of research at BitOoda, Bitcoin ATMs are not a recent development and can already be found in a number of supermarkets:
“Walmart expands Bitcoin access to people, though, and lends it additional legitimacy among skeptics, if they expand beyond an initial pilot.”
By inputting a banknote, customers may utilize the Bitcoin ATM and get a paper coupon with a redeeming code. Customers must then create a Coinme account and pass a background check in order to redeem the coupon. Users are unable to withdraw Bitcoin from their accounts, and there are no indications that this capability will be added in the near future.
The Bitcoin ATMs carry an extra 11% premium, which includes a 4% fee for the Bitcoin option and a 7% cash exchange fee.
For example, leading cryptocurrency trading sites Binance and Coinbase charge 3%–4.5% and 3.99 percent, respectively, for debit and credit card transactions. Direct depositing funds from a bank account to a Binance or Coinbase wallet is completely free.
The news was greeted positively by some, like influencer Lark Davis, who tweeted, “Walmart is now selling #bitcoin… great!” However, some customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the hefty costs.
“Bitcoin ATM fees are notoriously exorbitant, and the ‘current’ BTC price is usually much higher when purchasing and significantly lower when selling,” Ikegro responded to the news through Twitter.
“It’s a scam, but it’s a sign of acceptance – they believe some people want BTC badly enough to pay exorbitant fees,” Reddit user u/Axatar said on the forum r/CryptoCurrency.
This is not the first time Walmart has shown interest in the crypto realm. The retail behemoth revealed in August that it was looking for a crypto product lead to spearhead the company’s digital currency strategy. Although the job item has been deleted from Walmart’s website, LinkedIn advertising for the position remains.
Additionally, Walmart China has partnered with VeChain, a blockchain-based supply chain management technology, to monitor items.
However, there was some doubt around the Bitcoin ATM story, which follows a phony Walmart press release in September announcing cooperation with Litecoin (LTC). The scam momentarily pushed the altcoin’s price to rise by more than 20%.
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