Bitcoin, the leading P2P currency, is coming to an ATM near you. There is an ATM right here in Boston now! At least Boston keeps its place as a high tech center…barely. Anyways, first what really is Bitcoin, other than being linked to the infamous Winklevoss twins? Click here for a good crash video on what it is.
Coming to an ATM near you…better get your digital wallet ready
Basically it is an online generated form of currency, no banks, no physical currency is created. It allows the online community to have a form of money to empower eCommerce – not that your credit cards doesn’t still work. Online commerce could function and not have to pay some of the fees associated with credit cards and other forms of traditional brick and mortar payment methods. So what does it mean that you can now go to the ATM machine and “get” Bitcoins?
For the most part it feels like a marketing scheme, to make the every day user comfortable with this form of currency. Consumers are becoming more comfortable with eCommerce both via their smart phones, tablets or computers. They have become comfortable using their credit cards online. Bitcoin has to hope they start feeling comfortable seeing Bitcoin as a viable payment option. Showing consumers how to leverage Bitcoin in a format they are used to – aka the ATM machine – should allow for an ease of association with the medium. I get that the ATM gives me $20 bills (in New York sometimes $100 bills!), I get how to use my phone for more than phone calls….now I can somewhat better grasp how this all mixes together with Bitcoin. From a marketing and education perspective this makes a lot of sense. It is also interesting when it comes to the timing – with many highly publicized credit card theft issues from Target to Neiman Marcus could Bitcoin find away to offer a “safer” alternative for online commerce?
It will be interesting to see what the reaction is to these Bitcoin ATMs, will it uptick the usage of the currency? Will the curiosity fade after a few days? Regardless it will be interesting to watch and I believe the impact will reach further than we might expect today…think supply chain. A discussion for another post!
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