Contradicting the increasing global adoption rate of Bitcoin (BTC), physical ATMs dedicated to fiat-to-crypto conversions are on the decline. In March alone, 3,627 cryptocurrency-dedicated ATMs were withdrawn from the network, bringing the total number of ATMs to 33,727.
In the decade since the launch of the first Bitcoin ATM on October 29, 2013, the net change of cryptocurrency ATMs installed and removed on a monthly basis has remained positive most of the time, implying that total ATMs of cryptocurrencies around the world increased steadily. However, the trend is reversing, according to data from Coin ATM Radar.
As shown above, net cryptocurrency ATM installations declined for four months between September 2022 and March 2023. However, with 3,627 cryptocurrency ATMs retired last month, March 2023 stands out as the month with the highest monthly decline.
The chart above shows the number of Bitcoin ATMs installed over time, revealing the sudden drop in total cryptocurrency ATMs. The importance of this reduction seems enormous, taking into account that the highest number of ATMs installed in one month was 2,048, around January 2021.
On the bright side, April broke the three-month downtrend by recording 37 cryptocurrency ATM installations on April 1. The current leaders in the cryptocurrency ATM manufacturing market are General Bytes, BitAccess, and Genesis Coin.
After losing its clients’ funds in a “security incident” in March, in which their hot wallets were accessed, General Bytes has promised to reimburse the losses.
On March 17-18th, 2023, GENERAL BYTES experienced a security incident.
We released a statement urging customers to take immediate action to protect their personal information.
We urge all our customers to take immediate action to protect their funds and https://t.co/fajc61lcwR…
— GENERAL BYTES (@generalbytes) March 18, 2023
“We have taken immediate steps to prevent further unauthorized access to our systems and are working tirelessly to protect our customers,” General Bytes said in a statement.
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