Cryptocurrency ATMs to buy bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, appear in suburban malls

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He said installing ATMs in mainstream locations and offering round-the-clock service was attracting customers new to cryptocurrency investing.

Crypto can be intimidating and if you take it out of the cloud and put it in a mall, it’s more accessible to people, Weiss said. We think it’s important that there are as many opportunities to buy crypto as possible.

The cryptocurrency industry has seen a wild ride over the past year, including the collapse of stablecoin terraUSD in May and the November bankruptcy of Bahamas-based FTX. The price of bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell last year in what has been dubbed cryptowinter, but has recovered since January.

Commonwealth Bank recently reported that Australians are undeterred by volatility and are continuing to invest in cryptocurrencies throughout 2022, a trend that has some financial experts alarmed over the risk of consumers losing their money. money.

A spokesperson for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, inherently risky and complex and people should be prepared to lose what they invest.

The federal government is considering regulating certain cryptocurrencies as financial products.

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Austrac regulates digital currency exchange providers, including cryptocurrency ATM providers. An earlier attempt to build a crypto ATM network under the Auscoin brand ended in 2019 when Austrac suspended the company’s license.

Weiss said people are drawn to cryptocurrency because they worry about inflation and the economy and don’t trust banks.

When a customer uses an Olliv ATM, they must upload their identification documents and click through several pages of warnings about potential scams, including romance scams and calls claiming to be from the tax office or eBay asking payments. Weiss said it used real world examples, but added that scams were more common in the rest of the financial system.

The machines are housed in malls, news outlets, convenience stores and gas stations in every state and territory. About 40 of the Olliv machines also allow withdrawals.

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Newsagents Association secretary Ian Booth said the host company typically receives between $250 and $400 a month in rent for hosting the ATMs. Newsagents could also accept payments for over-the-counter cryptocurrency deposits in the same way as deposits for a Ladbrokes gaming account.

Booth said cash payments were aimed at customers who didn’t want the transactions to show up on their bank statements.

A spokesperson for the Australian Tax Office says cryptocurrency transactions are generally subject to capital gains tax and the ease of use of crypto ATMs has made record keeping more difficult for some people.

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