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NYC's First Bitcoin ATM Might Debut In The East Village
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 12, 2014
Modified Jan 12, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 12, 2014
Modified Jan 12, 2014
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Those days of standing in line for bubble tea and worrying about how you'll obtain enough untraceable currency to purchase that school of rare piranha for your roommate's performance art piece are nearly over! The Post reports that Just Sweet in the East Village might be getting the city's first bitcoin ATM.
The New York Department of Financial Services has to create regulations for virtual currency before any bitcoin ATMs can be installed—the agency is hosting public meetings on the subject on the 28th and 29th.
Lamassu, the maker of the ATM chosen for Just Sweet, makes the process sound simple: scan the QR code for your bitcoin wallet and insert $853 (or whatever amount corresponding to the fraction of the bitcoin you want). The shopkeeper is responsible with keeping the machine stocked with bitcoins.
Color us ignorant or shortsighted or boring, but under what circumstances would using this machine be truly necessary? When you want to toss a few singles into a tiny fraction of a bitcoin instead of the tip jar? You can purchase and use bitcoins with a smartphone. And the act of walking up to a public ATM to make a bitcoin transaction (a transaction that is presumably tracked by the machine and the storeowner) takes away some of the anonymity central to the bitcoin's allure.
Still, bitching about high bitcoin ATM fees in bars and bodegas is probably only a few years away.
Tagged
atm
bitcoins
east village
manhattan
the silk road
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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