The world’s first Worldcoin ATM has just been installed in the Slovak capital Bratislava, which is also known for it being home to the first Bitcoin ATM machine in Europe and one of the first in the world. The new BitXatm model is operated by Cryptodiggers.eu, a company of IT enthusiasts providing cryptocurrency solutions. The two-way machine also supports Bitcoin.
Worldcoin is one of the many alternative cryptocurrencies which have arisen with, or after the launch of Bitcoin and it's worth some satoshis. You can buy or sell it at many cryptocurrency exchanges and maybe even use to pay via some payment gateways for goods and services. But there haven't been any automat machine so far. Until now.
“We have always been fans of Worldcoin due to its speed and community. Also we are not orthodox Bitcoiners, we think there should be as many options for users and customers as possible. For starts, we‘ve decided to set-up smaller limits: buy BTC/WDC for 1000 Euro per transaction and sell BTC/WDC for 500 Euro per transaction. The reason for these limits is to fullfil EU AML rules as there is no need for an ID validation process,“ Peter Bešina, co-founder and CEO of Cryptodiggers.eu explains for Cointelegraph.
Customers pay a 3% margin on top of every transaction. The operator says it's due to high volatility, but in case of higher usage he is willing to reduce it to 2%. „We are using Kraken to exchange BTC as we are a verified as company on the TIER3 level and Litebit.eu for WDC exchange.“
New BitXatm
The machine is situated in Avion Shopping Park which houses over 200 retail outlets which is also near IT business centers in which resides many worldwide and big local IT companies. It is the biggest shopping center in Bratislava. “The Bitcoin ATM project is something new here and we are glad we can offer an opportunity and space for new projects which widen possibilities for Avion Shopping Park's customers,” says Andrea Aujeská, manager of Ikea Centers Slovakia.
P. Bešina concludes:
„Of course we were communicating with other shopping centers but they were not willing to cooperate or had such unrealizable conditions and high costs requests that it was not suitable at all. Crowdy places like streets mean high risk for cash inside the ATM.“
BTMs for cryptocurrency fans in Slovak capital
Bratislava thus have two ATMs and cryptocurrency fans can choose which one suits them best. “It has been two years now since we launched the first bitcoin automat in Europe. It was introduced to the public in Progressbar (hackerspace in Bratislava), later moved to fast food outlet Subway and then to the city center. We have decided to give a small gift to all Bitcoin fans out there by reducing the rates when buying Bitcoin from 3% to 1%,“ announces the operator Mojbitcoin.sk created by Marián Jančuška, CEO of IT company 0011.
An interesting fact is the second machine was bought also by M. Jančuška and started its operation in the second biggest city Košice last year, but after a few months of operation it had been stopped and ATM rented to Cryptodiggers who brought it to the capital city and added the altcoin option.
“Profitability of the ATM in Bratislava is good thanks to low fixed costs and increasing demand. However, in Košice, fixed costs were very high and demand very low, and that's despite some marketing activities in business community and the fact that the ATM in Košice offered both purchase and sale of bitcoins.“ Marián Jančučka told CT.
“We can only estimate the total number of Bitcoins sold from the number of different wallets used to purchase Bitcoins. Long-term average is above 2 Bitcoins sold per day in about two transactions, so the average single purchase is something above 1 BTC. MojBitcoin ATM is in operation since 21. November 2013 which is almost 750 days, so it’s over 1500 bitcoins sold in 1500 transactions to 1000 bitcoin wallets.”