Bitcoin ATM operator Athena Bitcoin has unveiled its plan to install 1,500 bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador. Initially, the company will install dozens of machines as a test. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele wants 1,500 bitcoin ATMs installed and Athena Bitcoin said, “we will go for that, but in phases.”
- Athena Bitcoin said Thursday that it plans to invest over $1 million to install cryptocurrency ATMs in El Salvador, particularly where residents receive remittances from abroad, Reuters reported, citing a company representative.
- The firm expects to gradually install about 1,500 ATMs, hire staff and open an office to carry out operations in El Salvador.
- Matias Goldenhörn, Athena Bitcoin’s director for Latin America, was quoted by the publication as saying that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele “presented us with a tough challenge of 1,500 ATMs, we will go for that, but in phases.”
- “We are a private company and we want to ensure that our development in the country is sustainable,” Goldenhörn added, elaborating:
Initially we are going to bring dozens of machines, test what the business model is like in El Salvador, which will probably be different than in the United States.
- Athena Bitcoin installed its first cryptocurrency ATM in El Salvador’s El Zonte beach about a year ago. It was part of an experiment called Bitcoin Beach with the aim to make the town one of the world’s first bitcoin economies.
- El Salvador passed a bill making bitcoin legal tender earlier this month. The law will go into effect on Sept. 7. President Bukele unveiled the country’s official wallet application and a bitcoin giveaway Thursday.
- This week, Bitcoin ATM provider Chainbytes also said it plans to install bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador. The company is setting up a manufacturing hub in the country.
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