Coinme Installs 50th BTC ATM

Coinme is steamrolling ahead with the intention of giving consumers access to cryptocurrency. It is a startup that operates Bitcoin ATM kiosks. Its kiosks allow users to buy, sell, transfer, or turn their Bitcoin into cash.

Coinme just installed its 50th cryptocurrency ATM, set up a new office inside Rhapsody’s downtown Seattle location, and is already in the process of expanding its cryptocurrency advisory services for customers with larger transactions. It has now acquired the license to be a cryptocurrency transmitter in 30 states.

A new feature is being launched by them shortly which will allow people to buy cryptocurrency online with their credit card.

The 25-person company is gradually expanding and pushing its borders. The cryptocurrency market has seen a lot of downs in the recent months with several cryptocurrency prices falling; Bitcoin went below $6,000 last week for the first time since February. Regulation laws are hampering the prices of the cryptocurrencies further.

Despite this, some remain confident in the future of cryptocurrencies. Top venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz just launched a $300 million fund to invest in cryptocurrency-related projects. The stats are staggering and claim that 179 venture capital investors in the U.S. participated in at least one crypto startup deal in the past two years.

Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist point to two recent market trends which hint at continued cryptocurrency momentum: the SEC’s announcement that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities, and growth in Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand.

Bergquist pointed out the U.S.’s backdated efforts in trading volume and overall adoption. “In the U.S. we’re still dealing with a mass market that is confused and really misunderstands what digital assets are and how they can be of significant value,” he added. “There’s confusion in the marketplace and that’s why our crypto advisory services have grown very quickly.” He also said that improved Blockchain technology now allows for more transaction capacity. “You’re seeing these technologies that are really starting to live up to the use cases Bitcoin promised when it came out in 2009,” he said.

Coinme’s main profit is roped in from advisory services and transaction fees from the ATMs, which allow customers to buy and sell Bitcoin. Launched in 2014, it has raised $1.5 million to date. An initial coin offering was also organized by them just last year for the company’s own “rewards-based” virtual currency, UpToken. 1 percent of every ATM transaction is used by them to purchase UpToken, which is given to customers as a 1 percent “cash back” reward.

Other similar startups like Unikrn and Strix Leviathan and Merit; a Blockchain consulting group called New Alchemy; and an investment group called Reflective Venture Partners that launched a new Seattle-based venture fund with Blockchain company RChain Cooperative to invest a cryptocurrency equivalent of more than $190 million in Blockchain apps and startups are also gradually spreading out all over Seattle.