The number of crypto automated teller machines (ATMs) installed worldwide has surged past the 4,000 mark, data from industry statistics aggregator Coin ATM Radar indicates on Jan. 10.
The current rate of growth is 4.9 new ATMs installed each day, according to Coin ATM Radar’s gauge scale — tipping into the highest speed class, despite persistently bearish market action.
Crypto ATM installation speed. Source: coinatmradar.com
Out of a total of 4167 crypto ATMs worldwide, 71.8 percent are located in North America — 56 percent in the United States and 15 percent in Canada — 23 percent are in Europe, and 2.6 percent in Asia. 1.3 and 1.1 percent are in Oceania and South America respectively, and just 0.2 percent are located in Africa.
Within Asia, Hong Kong has the lion’s share of ATMs — accounting for 0.8 percent of machines worldwide — while in Europe it is Austria (6.4 percent), closely followed by the United Kingdom (4.8 percent).
According to the data, installations in the United States rose from 1,216 on Jan. 1, 2018 to 2,475 as of today — 1,259 new ATMs in just over a year. California has the highest number of any state — with a total of 473 machines — followed by Illinois with 250.
While the vast majority of the 4167 crypto ATMs worldwide support Bitcoin (BTC) — 99.9 percent, or 4,162 — 64.6 percent support one or more altcoins.
These break down to 59.5 percent support for Litecoin (LTC), 49.3 percent support for Ethereum (ETH) and 33.9 percent support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Dash (DASH) is supported by 17.9 percent of ATMs, while Monero (XMR), Dogecoin (DOGE) and ZCash (ZEC) are each supported by 3 percent or less.
Conspicuously absent from Coin ATM Radar’s global statistics is India. As reported last November, the developers of the country’s first Bitcoin “ATM” were arrested in the city of Bangalore under criminal charges due to its “ATM” label, as the machine was not strictly an ATM but a device that aimed to allow crypto users to circumvent banking channels.
The arrests came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s spring 2018 prohibition on banks’ dealings with crypto-related firms.
Earlier this month, Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin ATM manufacturer Lamassu has relocated to Switzerland, due to regulatory difficulties in other countries. Lamassu revealed its applications to open an account were rejected by 15 banks because it produces terminals for Bitcoin, even though the company does not partake in trading or storing cryptocurrencies.