First Bitcoin ATMs In The US Head To Seattle And Austin

Bitcoin is one of the most popular of the virtual currencies out there. Even though it is popular, it has faced a number of issues including being deemed illegal in Russia. A number of companies have been working to make it easy to use bitcoin to pay for things and to buy and sell bitcoin.

A company named Lamassu unveiled its bitcoin ATM machine last summer. Another company called Robocoin announced this week that it would be bringing the first bitcoin ATMs to the US. The first two cities to get the bitcoin ATMs will be Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas.

The kiosks will look similar to standard ATMs, but will reportedly have a scanner designed to read government provided identification such as a passport or a driver's license. The scanning of one of those documents is required to verify identity for processing transactions.

At the ATM, users will be able to swap bitcoin for cash, deposit cash to buy the virtual currency, and transfer funds to or from a virtual wallet on a smartphone. Robocoin is based in Las Vegas and installed one of its ATM machines in Vancouver last year. It also plans to install another unit in Calgary, Alberta this month.

SOURCE: Reuters