Walmart, an American retail giant, has deployed its pilot of BTC ATM machines in 200 of its stores across the US powered by Coinstar.
In a bid to actively participate in the crypto-adoption drive, American retail giant Walmart has decided to get 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed in select store branches located across the country. People visiting Walmart stores will be able to insert a banknote in exchange for a paper voucher that brings along a redemption code. People are required to set up an account on a crypto-cash exchange platform and complete a background check. In Walmart’s case, the crypto-cash platform is Coinme.
Now, though, a more credible report from Bloomberg reads that the company had joined forces with Coinstar – known for its machines that can exchange physical coins for cash. As a result, the latter provided 200 bitcoin ATMs in Walmart stores across the USA, while the broader plan is to bring that number to 8,000 in the near future.
Sam Doctor, the chief strategy officer and head of research at BitOoda, noted there are already a lot of Bitcoin ATMs at a lot of supermarkets. However, he added: “Walmart expands Bitcoin access to more people, though, and gives it further legitimacy among skeptics, should they roll it out beyond an initial pilot.”
One important aspect is in terms of commissions. Before buying BTC at one of these ATMs, you should take into account that it charges a 4% fee for buying Bitcoin, plus another 7% cash exchange commission. For comparison, popular crypto trading platforms Binance and Coinbase charge 3% to 4.5% and 3.99% respectively for debit and credit card purchases. At the same time, it’s free to make a direct deposit from a bank account to a Binance or Coinbase wallet.
But Walmart, long seen as the crown jewel to bringing crypto financial services into the mainstream, is another step up – even if the 200-kiosk pilot is chump change for a company with 4,700 stores and a market cap of $409 billion.
