CoinFlip, a cryptocurrency ATM provider, brings the ease of Bitcoin transactions to locations across Washington State.
The Chicago-based company is one of a handful of operators who are flooding gas stations, grocery stores and elsewhere in the United States with the machines that allow users to buy and sell digital currency. Reuters reported on the growing popularity-induced phenomenon around bitcoin.
There are currently 32,305 bitcoin ATMs across the country, according to a website that answers exactly that – howmanybitcoinatms.com. CoinFlip has 1,958 and is growing.
CoinFlip’s Washington machines will be located in Seattle, Everett, Vancouver, Yakima (two each); Spokane and Spokane Valley (three); and Olympia, Aberdeen, Tumwater, Battle Ground and Puyallup (one each).
CoinFlip is bootstrap and employs 182 people. The business earns money through transaction fees. It charges a 6.99% fee for buying and selling cryptocurrencies at all of its ATMs.
Seattle-based startup Coinme, meanwhile, announced it had introduced its business in Florida with the launch of more than 300 Bitcoin-enabled kiosks at select grocery stores across the state. The company, which partners with Coinstar, owns nearly 6,000 machines in 45 states.
Coinme raised $ 5.5 million a year ago.
