Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Alt Currency: The Bitcoin ATM Has Arrived

I wish I thought of this.
Thanks to a reader.
From cnet:

Need Bitcoins? This ATM takes dollars and funds your account
New Hampshire entrepreneurs have created a dollar-converting anonymous Bitcoin ATM, which they hope to sell to bars, restaurants, and other retail locations nationwide.

Zach Harvey, right, and Matt Whitlock created this ATM that accepts dollar bills and converts it to the alternative Bitcoin currency.
Zach Harvey, right, and Matt Whitlock created this ATM that accepts dollar bills and instantly converts them to the alternative Bitcoin currency.
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET) 
NASHUA, N.H. -- Zach Harvey has an ambitious plan to accelerate adoption of the Internet's favorite alternative currency: installing in thousands of bars, restaurants, and grocery stores ATMs that will let you buy Bitcoins anonymously.

It's the opposite of a traditional automated teller that dispenses currency. Instead, these Bitcoin ATMs will accept dollar bills -- using the same validation mechanism as vending machines -- and instantly convert the amount to Bitcoins and deposit the result in your account.

"It's even easier than just using a regular ATM," says Harvey, 33, who demonstrated the device to CNET this weekend at the Free State Project's annual Liberty Forum. "You could probably do it in about five seconds. The thing that would take the longest would be the bill validator taking in the dollar."

Harvey and Matt Whitlock are partners in a New Hampshire-based venture, Lamassu Bitcoin Advisors, that's hoping to commercialize the ATM by selling to retail businesses, especially ones that also want to accept the decentralized alternative currency from customers....MORE