Colombia – The Newest Hotspot for Bitcoin ATMs

South American country Colombia has been on the spotlight recently following a rapid rise in Bitcoin ATMs in the country. American Bitcoin ATM network, Athena, has been expanding aggressively and the latestaddition of a cryptocurrency ATM sees the network 17 ATMs in five cities in thecountry.

Athena unveiled a third Bitcoin ATM in Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city. The ATM is not fully functional yet but a report by the network had it that the ATMs have received a warm reception across differentcities in the country.

ATM users

According to Athena, the biggest users of the ATMs are Venezuelan natives residing in Colombia. They were followed closely by freelance workers in the tech and marketing arenas. “There is more volume, more transactions and more people using digital currency in their daily transactions. The trade is picking up in Colombia,” remarked Matias Goldenhörn, Athena’s Latin America director.

“There are loads of freelancers in Colombia who receive their payments in Bitcoin. They use our ATMs to get their money in fiat and there are also those that send their remittances to Venezuela. Those are the two main users of cryptocurrency ATMs in Colombia,” commented the director.

Cryptocurrencies supported

The machines support a number of cryptocurrencies namely Bitcoin cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum. The ATMs have sprouted in five major cities in Colombi and the company announced that it had plans to open another branch in the Venezuelan hotspot border town of Cucuta.

Athena is not only vested in Colombia, but also in Argentina, Mexico, and Chile. Of all the countries, Colombia sees the mammoth of the investment because people in Colombia and Venezuela have accepted and incorporated cryptocurrency into their daily transactions. This is unlike their counterparts from the other Latin American countries.

The ATMs are designed to allow users to carry out cryptocurrency transactions without a bank account, debit card or a credit card.