I've only ever used a Bitcoin ATM a single time just to do some research for a thing that I was writing... that was a few years ago, and it felt like the equivalent of buying pornography in a public space. First of all, I had to google up some locations for Bitcoin machines, and then check to see if any were in operation still (it was bear market across the board and all the hype and believers from the last bull run had suddenly developed cold feet and were burying their involvement in crypto.). Interestingly enough, there were a few in the Den Haag area, but none that were really close to me... or I could travel to Amsterdam to use a machine there. Given that it was hard to tell which was actually going to be physically in operation (despite pushing digital data to the internet), I ended up opting to try for an ATM that was the closest.

I remember riding the bike to the shop... it was one of these night stores that sold all manner of supermarket goods at hideously inflated prices, and lots and lots of cheap alcohol. Yep... definitely not a place that you would want to go in for longer than about 10 minutes... and definitely not the place that you would really wanting to be transacting cryptocurrencies! Still... research called.

I went in... and saw nothing. I walked around the shop a bit... and still found nothing... it is strange that I make my living from being a performer on stage, but that in real life, I am somewhat shy and would love the darkness and security of a corner. So, I mustered up my courage and walked up to the scary looking owner and asked if they had a Bitcoin ATM in the shop.

He grunted and pointed to the back of the shop... around the corner where the employees had stacked up lots and lots of extra stock, empty boxes and all manner of rubbish. There... inside a bar cage (I kid you not... a cage with bars... and a lock that had to be triggered by a switch on the inside... I hoped...) was a machine that looked like it had gotten lost on the way to the casino. Neon lights and horrific garish design...

I know that the bars were supposed to provide "security" or the feeling of it.... but I was starting to get worried that it was a trap instead! Anyway... long story short, I stepped in and heard to lock seal behind me... and did my stuff... depositing fiat for Bitcoin and then exchanging Bitcoin for fiat. Honestly, the fees were a really killer... not the on-chain fees, the ATM fees! Anyway... not something that I would do again, unless you wanted a KYC-free way of purchasing or cashing in crypto. Even then...

Fast forward a few years to yesterday... I'm in Madrid, playing my last concert in Europe. I walk past this store on one of the big streets just down the road from the concert hall that I was playing... It is a Bitcoin ATM... several of them, and they are in a high street building that doesn't look like it is a venue for a mugging! The ATMs look like just normal bank machines...

Wow, we have travelled a long way in these last few years... and the years before that. We are starting to get some real decent looking infrastructure for interacting fiat and crypto! These are the machines and shops that I would tell my family or parents to use... and not some dodgy 24 hour shop. This does make me much more hopeful about adoption!

Like it or not, adoption doesn't look like crypto-nerds and weird people with a fixation on decentralisation. Adoption looks like our parents happily using machines in places that weird them out... Just like my mum is happy (mostly...) to do internet backing and shoping these days! The future is just around the corner... and it looks refreshingly boring on the outside, but interesting and revolutionary on the inside!

I can also be found cross-posting at:
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Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
FTX: Regulated US-based exchange with some pretty interesting and useful discounts on trading and withdrawal fees for FTT holders. Decent fiat on-ramp as well!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices!
Huobi: One of the largest exchanges in the world, some very interesting listings and early access sales through Primelist.
Gate.io: If you are after some of the weirdest and strangest tokens, this is one of the easiest off-chain places to get them!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
Stoic: A USD maximisation bot trading on Binance using long-term long strategies, powered by the AI/human system of Cindicator.
StakeDAO: Decentralised pooled staking of PoS assets.
Poloniex: One of the older regulated exchanges that has come into new ownership. I used to use it quite a lot, but have since stopped.
Bitfinex: Ahhh... another oldie, but a goodie exchange. Most noted for the close affiliation with USDT and the Basic "no-KYC" tier!