Over the past six months, Bitcoin (BTC) has seen numerous milestones: widespread adoption from El Salvador, a new all-time high of $69,000, and a network hash rate stronger than ever. However, For the first time in history, global Bitcoin ATM installations in the first two months of a year have slowed compared to the previous year.
Bitcoin ATM installations in the first two months of the year have historically increased year-over-year, as data from Coin ATM Radar demonstrates. The trend, however, breaks this year.
Considering only January and February 2022, a total of 1,817 cryptocurrency ATMs have been installed worldwide. In the same time period last year, 2,435 cryptocurrency ATMs were installedwhich means 618 more ATMs compared to this year.
In 2020, only 760 ATMs were installed in this time frame, which dwarfed the 250 ATM installations in 2019.
One of the main reasons for the momentary slowdown can be attributed to the lack of participation from newer jurisdictions. For example, the United States alone contributed to 93% of total cryptocurrency ATM installations globally in 2022, with 1,689 new ATMs.
On the other hand, bitcoin ATMs in Europe decreased by 1 ATM in the first two months, to a total of 1,397 ATMs. At the time of writing this article, North America accounts for over 95% of total cryptocurrency ATM installationswith 34,284 ATMs.
There are currently a total of 36,067 ATMs installed. Despite a slower start to the year, cryptocurrency ATM installations are expected to grow as jurisdictions such as El Salvador plan to roll out 1,500 bitcoin ATMs..
Unless more governments expand their cryptocurrency adoption efforts, ATM installations will struggle to maintain an upward trajectory as existing crypto-friendly countries reach saturation in terms of installing new bitcoin and crypto ATMs.
One of the immediate positive effects of bitcoin adoption for El Salvador is an uptick in tourism. Salvadoran Tourism Minister Morena Valdez said on Feb. 22 that the country’s tourism industry has skyrocketed more than 30% since the adoption of the Bitcoin law in September 2021..
Boom!
El Salvador’s tourism has grown by 30% since the Bitcoin Lawhttps://t.co/i8t6JRHD1a#The Savior #BitcoinLaw #bitcoin #bitcoininvestment #abtc #tourism #BitcoinCity #blockchain #investments
— Monica Taher ⚡️ (@monicataher) February 22, 2022
Boom! Tourism in El Salvador has grown by 30% since the Bitcoin Law came into effect https://t.co/i8t6JRHD1a #ElSalvador #LeyBitcoin #bitcoin #bitcoinversión #Abtc #turismo #BitcoinCity #blockchain #inversiones
As Cointelegraph reported, Valdez said that the growth of tourism in El Salvador exceeded the government’s expectations, reaching 1.4 million visitors instead of 1.1 million tourists.and I add:
“We had projected $800,000 in foreign exchange, but we got more than $1.4 billion in foreign exchange revenue”
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