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Tracker Shows Close to 3,000 Crypto ATMs Were Installed in 2022’s First Quarter

02/04/2022 by Idelto Editor

During the last 12 months, there’s been an exponential number of cryptocurrency automated teller machines (ATMs) installed as data shows that 20,000 crypto ATMs were installed last year. This year machines are still being installed in great numbers and since December 30, there have been 2,759 machines added to the list of 36,659 crypto ATMs worldwide.

Crypto ATM Installations Jump More Than 8% Since December 30

Today, according to the crypto ATM tracker coinatmradar.com, there’s approximately 36,659 crypto ATMs hosted in 76 different countries. Crypto ATM numbers have grown significantly over the years, and 2021 saw the largest annual increase so far, with more than 20,000 machines added during the year.

As the first quarter of 2022 has come to an end, data from coinatmradar.com indicates there are 36,659 crypto ATMs available. On December 30, 2021, Bitcoin.com News reported that there were 33,900 crypto ATMs, which means that over the last 93 days, 2,759 crypto ATMs have been installed across the globe.

That’s an 8.13% increase since December 30, and currently, there are 612 operators managing the 36,659 machines. Operators include Bitcoin Depot, Coin Cloud, Coinflip, and Bitcoin of America. Additionally, there are 43 crypto ATM producers with manufacturers like Genesiscoin, General Bytes, Bitaccess, Coinsource, Bitstop, and more.

The Manufacturer Genesis Coin, the Operator Bitcoin Depot, and the US Lead the Pack in Terms of Crypto ATM Activity

The top operator in terms of the most crypto ATMs is Bitcoin Depot with 7,001 installed worldwide. Coin Cloud is the second-largest operator with 5,198 crypto ATMs in operation. While Bitcoin Depot commands 19.1% of the 36,659 machines installed, Coin Cloud captures 14.2%.

Coinatmradar.com also shows a map of where all the crypto ATMs are located and what type of crypto asset the machines support. For instance, crypto ATMs support bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, litecoin, dash, monero, zcash, dogecoin, tether, and xrp.

The crypto ATM tracker site also shows that most of the machines are located in the United States, as the country hosts 32,623 crypto ATMs. The country with the second-largest number of crypto ATMs is Canada with 2,439 locations. The U.S. and Canada are followed by Spain (225), El Salvador (204), Poland (180), and Switzerland (147).

As far as crypto ATM installations by manufacturer, Genesis Coin commands 41.6% of the world’s share of crypto ATMs installed. General Bytes is the second leading manufacturer in terms of crypto ATM installations, with 21.4% of the global share. Genesis Coin and General Bytes are followed by Bitaccess (15.2%), Coinsource (5.3%), Bitstop (4.6%), Bytefederal (3.7%), and “other” manufacturers (8.2%).

What do you think about the number of crypto ATMs worldwide today and the increase during the first quarter? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero Hashrates Tap Lifetime Highs — Dash, ETC, LTC Hashpower Lower Than Prior ATHs

17/01/2022 by Idelto Editor

During the first month of 2022, both Bitcoin and Ethereum’s hashrates have climbed to all-time highs (ATHs). While Bitcoin’s hashpower surged to over 200 exahash per second (EH/s), Ethereum’s hashpower jumped to over 1 petahash per second (PH/s). A few mineable digital asset networks, however, saw their hashrates decline since their ATHs and the processing power behind these protocols hasn’t returned back to the highs captured long ago.

While Some Hashrates Skyrocket, Processing Power From Other Crypto Networks Remains Lackluster

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s processing power is coasting along above the 200 exahash per second (EH/s) zone, after touching the ATH it captured on January 15. Six-month hashrate statistics indicate that on Sunday, January 16, 2022, BTC’s hashrate tapped a daily high of 216.50 EH/s.

The top three mining pools on Monday, January 17, include F2pool, Foundry USA, and Antpool, respectively. All three pools have more than 15% of the global hashrate or 29 EH/s of hashpower.

Six-month and all-time metrics also show that Monero’s network hashrate is coasting along at all-time high records as well, with about 3.49 gigahash per second (GH/s) at press time.

In close to four days’ time, Bitcoin’s network difficulty is expected to increase 6.24% which will bring the network difficulty to an all-time high. The estimated difficulty after the next epoch change will be around 25.89 trillion, according to data at the time of writing.

Ethereum’s network hashrate is also managing to hold the 1 PH/s range after first tapping this goal in December 2021. The top mining pool on the Ethereum network is ethermine.org with 295 terahash per second of hashrate, and the percentage of ETH hashrate on Nicehash is 3.66%.

While networks like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero have seen all-time highs, networks like Litecoin have not seen new hashrate ATHs in recent times. LTC’s network hashrate on Sunday is 368.96 TH/s, but during the first week of July 2019, LTC’s hashrate tapped an ATH at 468.50 TH/s.

Today, Dash has a hashrate of around 5.24 PH/s, but in September 2020 it hit 7.14 PH/s. In total, that’s a 26.61% decrease in the network’s hashpower in 16 months.

The Ethereum Classic network has an overall hashrate of 20.37 TH/s on January 17, which is lower than the network’s ATH in June 2021 at over 23 TH/s.

What do you think about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero’s recent hashrate highs? What do you think about the networks that have not returned to ATHs reached months ago? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Over 20,000 Bitcoin ATMs Installed in a Year

30/12/2021 by Idelto Editor

The number of cryptocurrency ATMs around the world has grown exponentially in 2021, with over 20,000 new installations made since last December. That’s more than the total of all crypto teller machines put into operation in the previous seven years.

Close to 34,000 Crypto ATMs Available Globally

ATM locations offering users options to buy and exchange cryptocurrencies with fiat money are increasing at an unprecedented pace. Data compiled by Coin ATM Radar shows that their number towards the end of 2021 is nearing 34,000.

In a year that saw crypto market all-time highs, over 20,000 new devices have popped up globally. According to the installations growth chart updated by the tracking website, bitcoin ATMs were fewer than 13,000 in December 2020 — that’s all ATM locations registered since October 2013 — while 12 months later they exceed 33,900.

Crypto teller machines can be found in almost any corner of the planet but their spread is still quite concentrated. Around 30,000 of all BATMs (bitcoin ATMs), approximately 90% of the gross figure, are running in the U.S. Its northern neighbor, Canada, is a distant second with a little over 2,200 machines.

Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador is already among the leaders with its 205 machines, overtaking EU countries such as Spain, which has less than 200, and Austria with its 142. As of Dec. 29, the whole of Europe has only 1,384 cryptocurrency ATMs, lagging behind key markets in North America.

A number of companies now manufacture automated teller machines supporting cryptocurrencies. The biggest players in the market are Genesis Coin with almost 14,000 devices, General Bytes with more than 7,500, and Bitaccess with close to 5,000. Coinsource and Bitstop, with less than 2,000 each, complete the top five.

At least 6,000 businesses maintain crypto ATMs in different parts of the world, with the 10 largest operators running 70% of them all. The largest companies in the sector are Bitcoin Depot, which holds a fifth of the market with over 6,600 machines, followed by Coincloud (over 4,600), and Coinflip (almost 3,500).

The teller machines support various cryptocurrencies and are either one-way or two-way devices. The latter offers users the ability not only to buy, but also to sell their digital coins. Most BATMs provide an opportunity to purchase bitcoin (BTC), and many offer other major coins such as bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH), and litecoin (LTC).

Do you expect the number of bitcoin ATMs to continue to grow exponentially in 2022? Let us know in the comments section below.

Financial Services Company SBI Group Launches Diversified Crypto Fund in Japan

19/12/2021 by Idelto Editor

SBI Group, the financial services company group based in Tokyo, Japan, has announced the launch of a crypto asset fund that consists of seven different digital currencies. The crypto fund launched by the Japanese company includes bitcoin, ethereum, xrp, litecoin, bitcoin cash, chainlink, and polkadot.

SBI Group’s New Crypto Fund Leverages 7 Different Digital Assets

Three months ago, SBI Holdings, often referred to as SBI Group revealed the company was planning to launch a crypto asset fund. At the time, SBI said that the new fund would launch at the end of November, but the official launch press release published on December 17. In addition to the press announcement, SBI also published a more detailed summary of the digital currency fund.

SBI’s crypto fund consists of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), polkadot (DOT), chainlink (LINK), litecoin (LTC), xrp (XRP), and bitcoin cash (BCH). The financial services company is calling it “Japan’s first cryptocurrency fund for general investors.” Japanese investors need to “fully understand the nature of crypto assets and risks related to investment in crypto assets,” the press release explains.

The application period to invest in SBI’s new crypto fund is between December 17, and January 31, 2022. The fund will be managed under the name SBI Alternative Fund GK and the press release further explains that future rebalancing of assets can happen after maturity but for now, each crypto in the fund has around 20% or less in ratio. SBI Group’s new crypto fund contract is between February 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023.

SBI Alternative Fund ‘Aims to Reduce Investment Risk by Time Diversification’

SBI has been involved in the crypto scene for many years now developing all types of products. The company has collaborated with Ripple, it acquired the UK-based crypto services firm B2c2, and SBI partnered with Boerse Stuttgart in 2019 to offer crypto services in Europe and Asia. In contrast to the early days of crypto, Japan’s crypto regulations have become stricter, slowing SBI’s crypto fund launch down a great deal.

“‘Initial buying’ and ‘selling toward maturity’ will take 3 months each,” SBI’s press release explains. “Aiming to reduce investment risk by time diversification. Automatic rebalancing of investment ratio allocation once a month,” the financial institution’s announcement adds.

SBI’s new crypto fund has its own web portal and the fund was reportedly established on December 2, 2021. Interestingly, the SBI press release published on Friday mentions the possibility of SBI Group dealing with “Bitcoin futures ETFs,” while further mentioning the “widespread use of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) using blockchain technology.”

What do you think about SBI’s new crypto fund? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

World’s Largest Collector Car Auction House RM Sotheby’s to Accept Cryptocurrencies

18/11/2021 by Idelto Editor

On Wednesday, the world’s largest collector car auction house by total sales, RM Sotheby’s, announced the company will be accepting cryptocurrency payments via Bitpay. The firm’s upcoming Guikas Collection sale on November 19 will be RM Sotheby’s first auction to accept digital currency payments for collectible automobiles.

RM Sotheby’s Announces Crypto Payment Support via Bitpay

While cryptocurrencies have increased significantly in value, a great number of businesses have turned toward accepting digital assets for goods and services payments. The company RM Sotheby’s is a classic car auction firm that’s located in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. Originally called RM Auctions, the company is now partly owned by the leading fine art and luxury goods auction house Sotheby’s, since 2015. On November 17, the company announced its plans to accept digital currency payments at auctions via Bitpay.

The company chose to accept crypto assets so it can attract a new customer base in order to expand “the market for collectible automobiles to a broader cross-section of enthusiasts and collectors.” The company will begin to accept crypto for settlement on November 19, when the firm hosts the upcoming Guikas Collection auction. The auction will feature 75 of the finest racing and road cars and the collection will be auctioned entirely without reserve.

“The collection of race cars will provide modern racing enthusiasts an introduction into virtually all vintage racing series worldwide, including GT and road cars that are equally impressive which offer a wide selection of Pre- and Post War sports cars,” the Guikas Collection auction description details.

RM Sotheby’s CSO: ‘Cryptocurrency Has Become a Significant Part of the Financial Landscape’

RM Sotheby’s CSO Bryon Madsen explained in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News that digital currency payments are a mainstay in today’s financial landscape. “Cryptocurrency has become a significant part of the financial landscape and is now the way many people are choosing to conduct transactions on significant investments,” Madsen said. The RM Sotheby’s executive added:

We want to maintain true to the needs of our clients as well as those who are just getting into the collector car market. The role that cryptocurrency will play within the collector car market will only expand in the future.

The partnership between RM Sotheby’s and Bitpay follows the collector car auction company Mecum Auctions accepting crypto payments six months prior. Mecum Auctions also leverages Bitpay as the crypto payments service provider and the company chose to accept digital currencies for the same reason. Mecum Auctions said at the time the firm wanted to “attract new customers and sales.”

Sotheby’s, the leading luxury auction house that has partial ownership of the collector car auction house, also accepts cryptocurrencies, but through Coinbase. The world’s largest auction house revealed its partnership with Coinbase during the first week of May. Bitpay allows businesses to accept crypto assets like BTC, BCH, DOGE, ETH, LTC, WBTC, alongside stablecoins such as BUSD, DAI, GUSD, USDP, and USDC.

What do you think about RM Sotheby’s accepting cryptocurrencies for payments? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.