Coinsource will build and deploy 20 new Bitcoin ATMs across the Washington-Baltimore corridor.
While the timeline and exact locations for these new ATMs is unclear, Coinsource says it will place 12 in the District, five in Baltimore, one in Towson, one in Oxon Mill and one in Takoma Park, according to a report in Crowdfund Insider on April 12. The expansion will make Coinsource the largest Bitcoin ATM operator in the region.
"We are meeting Washington, D.C. at an inflection point, where regulators are looking at the value and potential of decentralized currencies and blockchain technology," Sheffield Clark, Coinsource's CEO, said in a statement. "All innovation over time has passed through our nation's Capital in one way or another, and we are happy to be now servicing Washington, D.C. and the surrounding communities so that they can have easy access to buying and selling Bitcoin."
Currently, the D.C. metro area only has five Bitcoin ATMs in operation, each own by a different company.
Coinsource launches #Bitcoin ATMs in the Nation's Capitol, in a BIG way! #BitcoinATM #Crypto #DC #WashingtonDC https://t.co/48FGkD9CEI
— Coinsource (@Coin_Source) April 13, 2018
Bitcoin ATMs let users buy the popular cryptocurrency without entering any personal banking information, along with letting users transfer their Bitcoins to cash. All that's needed is a working Bitcoin wallet, which is an online-based, encrypted location where Bitcoin owners store their individual supply of the currency, to operate a Coinsource ATM. If someone doesn't have a functional wallet, they can download Coinsource's wallet app.
It should be noted that Coinsource charges a transaction fee of about 8 percent, which can be a lofty sum considering the trading prices of Bitcoin. And these higher percentage-based fees have caused distress amongst Bitcoin enthusiasts who see the currency as an equalizer.
Coinsource has been eyeing expansion across the East Coast. Earlier in 2018, the group deployed 10 ATMs in February in New England across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. And Coinsource came to the D.C. region next to meet demand, the company says.
Specifically, the District has been embracing the crypto movement in recent years. The Chamber of Digital Commerce has hosted the annual D.C. Blockchain Summit for three consecutive years, and its director, Perianne Boring, now teaches a course at Georgetown about cryptocurrencies. More restaurants, including The Diner in Adams Morgan and Mr. Yogato locations, are accepting Bitcoin or installing ATMs for the currency at their locations. And a real estate team selling a set of condos in Columbia Heights accepted Bitcoin in January.
