Always negative – Bitcoin (BTC) continues to register monthly declines. This time around, it’s not about its price, but rather about the growth in the number of bitcoin ATMs (BTC ATMs) installed around the world. The track record shows that Bitcoin needs another (truly) cryptophile country to win the adoption war on the streets in 2022.
A drop in bitcoin ATMs
According to data from Coin ATM Radar, the peak in bitcoin ATM net change in January 2022, fell to 1,687, compared to 1,969 ATM Bitcoin in December 2022. This net month-over-month change in the number of ATM BTC has been steadily decreasing since the start of the year. It stood at 970 in February, 757 in March, and finally 739 in April 2022.
These figures contrast with those of the year 2021. The number of bitcoin ATMs had then experienced explosive growth. The month of August 2021 had recorded a peak net change of 2,037 machines.
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A high concentration of ATM BTC in El Salvador
El Salvador’s decision to make Bitcoin a legal currency largely explains this sharp increase in the number of BTC ATMs in 2021. Indeed, El Salvador now ranks third, behind the United States and Canada, in terms of the number of bitcoin ATMs installed in its territory.
The country is home to 205 Chivo ATMs. It thus concentrates 54% of Bitcoin ATMs in Latin America.
Will this slowdown in the growth of the number of Bitcoin ATMs in 2022 continue until the end of the year, unless another country decides to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador?
Private sector initiatives in favor of these distributors, such as that of the German retailer MediaMarkt, do not seem to be enough to reverse the curve. MediaMarkt had installed bitcoin ATMs in twelve of its branches in Austria in April 2022.
Could this slowdown in the monthly growth of the number of ATM BTCs also be due to the actions of regulators who want to make life difficult for the companies behind these distributors? On March 11, 2022, the British financial policeman summoned the operators of cryptocurrency ATMs, under penalty of “coercive operations”.
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