Set to be officially unveiled in downtown Vancouver, B.C. on Tuesday, an ATM machine will allow users to buy as much as $3,000 worth of the virtual currency everyday which can be deposited in an equally virtual Bitcoin wallet.
To comply with Canadian anti-money-laundering legislation, the ATM will be high on security. Changing dollars to Bitcoin will require palm-print and photographic verification and is also the reason why the transaction amount is capped at $3000 a day.
Once verified, users will be able to access the VirtEx exchange in order to buy or sell Bitcoin. Built by Robocoin, the ATM was bought by a Vancouver Bitcoin trading company called Bitcoiniacs and, according to Wired, its founders hope to place another four ATMs around the country in the coming months as consumer interest in the cryptocurrency grows and it moves further into the mainstream.
However, trying to spend Bitcoin may prove difficult. Although a handful of websites and web services, including WordPress and Reddit, accept Bitcoin payments, the majority of users see the currency as an investment. And, despite the negative publicity the currency received following the closure of Silk Road, the ‘dark' website that accepted Bitcoin payments for products and services of a questionable legal origin, Bitcoin's value recently hit an all-time high of $300 (up from just $13 at the start of the year).
Still, users of the ATM will be able to get a cup of coffee. The machine will be situated next to a Bitcoin-accepting cafe.
