Argentina is set to receive 200 ‘bi-directional’ Bitcoin ATMs next month in an initiative responding to the “world monetary order changing.”
Speaking to local news outlet CryptoNoticias, CEO of organizer Odyssey Group Sebastian Ponceliz said there would be multiple benefits of the machines in a country where economic policy was an early driver of consumers towards Bitcoin.
“The idea was born from the understanding that the world monetary order is changing,” he told the publication.
“There is what I call monetary convergence that makes us use different types of means of payment and exchange (cash, crypto, e-wallets, loyalty points, etc.) and the human contact point for that is an ATM that can transact multiple currencies, turning digital money into physical and vice versa.”
Argentina will usurp many other markets should the rollout be a success, as the majority of BTMs do not cater to both fiat and crypto simultaneously.
Last month, Australia announced plans to retrofit 500 machines with Bitcoin selling and purchasing functionality.
“Odyssey is the first global platform integrating fintech, cryptocurrency and cash […] facilitating the movement of foreign exchange, commerce and reduction of transaction costs,” Ponceliz added.
Bitcoin ATMs as an industry are spreading fast but appear not to match demand.
High fees add to their lackluster performance compared to online exchanges, while promises of mass adoption have fallen flat in the past.
UK-based BTM operator Bitlish told Cointelegraph in May it would deploy a massive 5,000 of them across Europe before the end of 2017.