World's First Bitcoin ATM

Io9.com has a report on the world's first ATM, located in Vancouver:

The new machine, which converts bitcoins to Canadian dollars and vice versa, is the first of four ATMs to be opened across Canada. It officially went into service at 9:00 AM on October 29th at Waves Coffee House in downtown Vancouver. The ATM will be operated by Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs and Nevada-based Robocoin.

To use the machine, customers need to have their palms scanned, and they can exchange up to $3,000 worth of bitcoins each day. Canadian currency can be deposited or withdrawn from the machine and exchanged for bitcoins on Canada's VirtEx exchange. The bitcoins are then transferred to and from the customer's online bitcoin wallet.

We have discussed the legal and economic implications of Bitcoin and other e-currencies previously.  Most recently, we reported on economist Simon Johnson's predictions of government crackdowns on Bitcoin use and exchange. With Bitcoin ATMs making access to the e-currency easier and more commonplace, governments around the world are going to have to determine how they intend to regulate or otherwise deal with this cutting-edge technology.

[NOTE: NEITHER BUSINESSLAWBASICS.COM OR ITS BLOGGERS, OR BERGER HARRIS OR ANY OF ITS ATTORNEYS, ADVOCATES, RECOMMENDS, OR OTHERWISE ENDORSES THE USE OF BITCOINS].

Category: 

Tag: 

By: