So far cryptocurrencies have most frequently been used in the developing countries, like Africa, South America or South-East Asia. But recently Bitcoin ATMs started to appear in poor areas of US cities too. This is due to the fact that poor people hardly have any access to the banking system.
Currently, there are around 80 ATMs where you can buy or sell BTC in the Detroit area and slightly over 2,000 machines around the whole US.
Way out for the unbanked
Low-income families usually earn and spend money beyond the traditional banking system, earning their living off the books and not registering their income. Or they may be deprived of regular banking services due to constantly low balanced.
Some economists from the Villanova University of Pennsylvania also believe that poor people see cryptocurrencies as a lottery and buy them for this particular reason too, hoping to get big returns in the future.
Money laundering
Bitcoin ATM charges only seven to eight percent commission, which seems to be nothing for drug dealers wishing to change their ill-gotten cash for BTC.
However, the founder of BitAML, company that consults crypto startups, Joe Ciccolo, assures that ATMs now allow operators to collect customer information, including their IDs, like a driver’s license.
Also, the machine can implement daily limits on transactions for one person and caps on transaction denominations.