Today, reports suggest that Australia has overtaken El Salvador, the first state to legalize BTC, in crypto ATM hubs taking the 4th position. This is yet another time El Salvador has been overthrown as Spain took 3rd position in 0ctober 2022.
El Salvador loses 4th place
El Salvador, regarded as the 1st nation to legalize BTC, has lost another position in the list of countries with the most crypto ATMs installed. As per the latest news reports, Australia took the 4th position with 216 installed ATMs at the beginning of 2023.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador decided to place more than 200 cryptocurrency ATMs across the nation as part of his effort to make Bitcoin legally enforceable. El Salvador was, at the time, in September 2021, the 3rd most prominent hub for cryptocurrency ATMs, just after the United States and Canada. Still, in 2022, Spain and Australia passed El Salvador regarding ATM density.
In October 2022, Spain was announced to surpass El Salvador with a mass deployment of 215 crypto ATMs, making it the 3rd most significant state with the highest number of crypto ATMs. Nonetheless, Spain continued installing crypto ATMs and has 226 digital currency ATMs. This is a considerable drop, and a sign of laxity from EL Salvador as states such as Australia continue to install more ATMs for virtual currency users to benefit.
In a 2017 post, Australia planned to install almost 3000 BTC automatic teller machines across the nation as part and parcel of the venture between a blockchain service provider and an ATM operator. As a result of the partnership between StarGroup and DigitalX, 2900 operating ATMs in Australia will be fitted with hardware that will enable Bitcoin hobbyists to buy and sell virtual currency.
Rise of crypto ATM hubs
In March 2022, an Australian firm dubbed Diamond Circle claimed to have created a cashless ATM account, one of bitcoin’s cornerstones. The first Diamond Circle ATM that was fully operational left its Brisbane manufacturer. With document receipt backups, Diamond Circle’s solution relies on near-field communication (NFC) software, in contrast to competing ATMs and vending machines that depend on QR codes and cash.
Australia is well-positioned to surpass Asia’s 312 ATMs thanks to its 0.6% market share of the global cryptocurrency ATM market. Globally, there are currently 38,602 cryptocurrency ATMs in use, with 6,071 of those devices going live just in 2022. The rising rate of cryptocurrency adoption will see virtual currency ATMs shoot toward the moon in the forthcoming future. Also referred to as BTC ATMs, these ATMs aren’t similar to the conventional ATMs however are working with the same function. The market drivers are considered installations in restaurants, bars, gas stations, and general stores.