Walmart has teamed up with coin-cashing company Coinstar and digital currency exchange CoinMe to install 200 Bitcoin ATMs in stores across the US.
To buy Bitcoin, customers must insert a banknote into the ATM before receiving a voucher with a code that can be redeemed through a CoinMe account, following a background check.
Sam Doctor, Chief strategy officer and head of research at BitOoda, said should Walmart extend beyond their pilot program, Bitcoin would gain legitimacy among the public.
“Walmart expands Bitcoin access to more people, though, and gives it further legitimacy among sceptics, should they roll it out beyond an initial pilot,” he said.
The Bitcoin ATMs possess an 11% surcharge – a 4% charge for Bitcoin plus 7% for a cash exchange option.
There are concerns, however, regarding the potential for illegal activity through the ATMs in a point brought up by Seth Sattler, compliance director of BTM provider DigitalMint.
“Large retailers need to make sure they know the vendor they’re getting into bed with and what that organisation is doing to manage risk,” Sattler said in an interview.
Walmart link to football
Ann Walton Kroenke, an heiress to the Walmart fortune, is married to Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke who has made his own venture into cryptocurrency with the London club.
Arsenal signed a deal with the sports blockchain provider Chiliz to launch the club’s fan tokens on Socios.com, to join fellow European clubs Barcelona, Juventus, and Roma.
The North London club also teamed up with Fantastec – a London-based blockchain firm, where users can own, trade, and collect digital items through the Swap app.