In October 2019, Waves Cafe in Vancouver unveiled the first Bitcoin ATM. Nine years later, several countries, especially in Europe, have installed Automated teller machines (ATMs) for crypto transactions.
Reports show that the United States has the highest number of cryptocurrency ATMs, followed by Canada. Similarly, there are 38,803 ATMs worldwide, with the United States having 33,851. Aside from Europe, which has 1,478 crypto ATMs, other counties have a few scattered in various central locations.
At this juncture, it is expedient to identify how Canada has remained second and continued to increase its Bitcoin ATM locations.
The cryptocurrency ecosystem is currently battling crypto winter. The price value of major digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, keeps declining.
Amidst this downtrend in crypto prices, there seems to be more than enough crypto-related developments worldwide. One such development that has made headlines is Canada recording an increase in Bitcoin ATM installations.
According to Coin ATM Radar, the country increased its Bitcoin ATMs by about 28% last year.
You would recall that in 2021, the number of Bitcoin ATMs there stood below 2000. As of 2022, the crypto ATMs have increased by over 500.
Similarly, the crypto ATM tracker revealed that in Q1 of 2022, the number of installed ATMs increased to 2,289. By the second quarter, the number surged to 2,438.
Furthermore, the Central Bank's survey revealed details about Bitcoin ownership — and some conditions that necessitated the increase in Bitcoin ATMs in Canada. The survey showed more than a two-fold increase in Bitcoin ownership in 2021. This statistic showed a 5% increase compared to the ownership disclosed from 2018 to 2020.
In addition, the data from the Bank of Canada shows that most of the nationals are now aware of Bitcoin. This has propelled the demand to increase, with Canadian crypto usage at an all-time high.
Canada remains second on the list of countries with high Bitcoin ATMs. It is interesting to know that there is a huge gap between the United State's crypto ATMs and Canada's. The former has over 33,000 Bitcoin ATMs, while the latter has about 2500.
Furthermore, experts say there is an increase in crypto adoptions and usage in Canada amidst the ongoing bear market. This increase necessitated the increase in Bitcoin ATMs in 2022.
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