While Bitcoin ATMs came as an afterthought to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of sound money, they are now considered one of the major factors of Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption.
A cryptocurrency ATM resembles a traditional ATM and is often used for trading bitcoin or withdrawing money. The number of ATMs suggests the growing friendliness and progress toward crypto.
As per reports, the second half of 2022 witnessed new ATM installments’ slow pace. Data from CoinATMRadar suggests the global Bitcoin ATM network, which used to add thousands of machines each month in 2021, shockingly reported a net addition of only 94 Bitcoin ATMs over the past six months since July last year.
Sources cite a prolonged bear market that dominated over the past year, along with geopolitical tensions and global inflation, to be the main reasons that slowed down the pace of the ATMs and the entire crypto ecosystem at large.
As a result of all these socio-economic factors, efforts to install new Bitcoin ATMs plunged in many nations which were initially leading the initiative. As a result, over the last six months, from July to the end of 2022, just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network, whereas 4,169 ATMs were added during the initial six months of the year.
However, several countries have continued to take the lead in crypto ATM installations. The United States and Canada are currently acquiring the top two positions for the highest number of ATMs. Spain has claimed the third position, whereas Australia is in the fourth by pushing El Salvador down to fifth.
During his time frame, crypto ATM manufacturer BitAccess saw a comparative drop in its ATM installation, whereas others reported a comparatively steady increase, as represented in the graph above.
As crypto investors are waving off the negative sentiments from the past and indulging in crypto, the Bitcoin ATMs are also expected to be well-positioned for recovery. As Todayq News reported data from Grand View Research, the market size is projected to record a growth of 61.7% between 2022 and 2030, yielding a valuation of $5.45 billion.