Kelly Robertson
Ukraine will be getting a bunch of new Bitcoin ATMs this year, 30 of which will be installed by the end of August. These “devices” are also referred to as BTMs which stand for Bitcoin Teller Machines.
Mike Chobanyan — who is a co-founder of NGO Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine and the head of KUNA Bitcoin Agency, a firm supporting bitcoin users in Ukraine — says that some 150 Bitcoin ATMs have been ordered by a group of Ukrainian entrepreneurs. He didn’t want to reveal the names of the people ordering these machines.
“Money needs silence,” Mike told the Kyiv Post, adding that the group of business people even purchased all of the BTMs with bitcoins to keep their identities secret. “Nobody wants to get called out. It’s now time of trouble (in Ukraine) and nobody wants to show that they have money.”
He added that these entrepreneurs want to install the BTMs because of the troubled situation with the Ukrainian banking system, which causes problems for business. And cryptocurrencies shine in bypassing traditional financial systems.
Chobanyan himself set up the Ukrainian bitcoin exchange, brought Ukraine’s only currently operating BTM to Odessa in late April, and in Kyiv opened the first “bitcoin embassy” in the region to promote the cryptocurrency and support those who want to use it. His KUNA Bitcoin Agency will also develop the user interface for the future BTMs in the country.
In addition to Bitcoin, all of the 150 BTMs will include support for other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, Waves and Golos.
There are no laws in Ukraine that regulate digital currencies, with the National Bank of Ukraine dubbing them as “substitutes for real money.” On the other hand, there is no official restriction on the use of these digital assets, and some local companies are already accepting bitcoins as a mean of payment.
Right now, the largest number of BTMs are installed in the United States. However, there are some “regular” ATMs and other machines (like ticket machines) that can also sell cryptocurrency in addition to performing their main tasks.
