Los Angeles Slated for Bitcoin ATMs

In February, 2014, I trekked down from my office in Midtown to a little boutique on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. The goal was to visit New York City’s first bitcoin ATM. I purchased about 1/10th of a bitcoin – a couple hundred dollars back then, if I recall correctly. I had bought my first bitcoin in 2012 and was one of the first ever to mention the words “cryptocurrency,” “bitcoin” and “ripple” in the mainstream press when I wrote about it all for Esquire (the George Clooney cover, Dec 2013).

Still in its infancy, bitcoin was only just beginning to move beyond money hobbyists and doomsday preppers. There in the Village, amid a few antique cameras and a couple cute skirts, I assumed crypto ATMs would soon be dominating the landscape.

It didn’t happen.

Even with the incredible growth of crypto — bitcoin is roughly 70x where it was when I saw that first ATM and has been higher than 100x—it’s still kinda fishy how hard it is to buy, spend, transact.

This morning, Bitcoin Bancorp, Inc. (OTC: BCBC) announced that it’s trying to change that. At least in Southern California.

Bitcoin Bancorp calls Itself one of only three publicly traded Bitcoin ATM network owner/operators. They’ve already announced a similar rollout in Texas and a press release describes the move into Los Angeles as a new phase in an expansion strategy targeting the whole country.

The company says the Bitcoin ATM market is currently worth $267.4 million – a rounding error in the $1.5 trillion bitcoin economy. But their materials expect the ATM market to grow to $7,679 billion by 2034.

According to the release, Texas is currently America’s leader in Bitcoin ATMs with over 4000 by the end of 2025. The company is targeting California for ATM expansion “due to its large population, strong technology ecosystem, and high levels of cryptocurrency adoption. … Other leading states, such as Florida, also show strong numbers, supported by high tourist traffic and crypto adoption in cities like Miami.”

Eric Noveshen, a director of Bitcoin Bancorp, said “California has continuously led digital-asset innovation, supported by its world-class technology leadership, expansive retail networks, and growing consumer demand for accessible cryptocurrency services. The opportunity arose to strategically add new markets following our Texas deployment. California represents a natural next step for our licensed Bitcoin ATMs—delivering secure, compliant on-ramps to Bitcoin while capitalizing on one of the largest economic markets in the United States.”