When you think of American Retail, one name will likely be your first or at least in the top three.  Of course I'm talking about Walmart!  Good ole Sam Walton's third attempt to start a business has grown beyond anything he could have ever imagined and is now one of the largest retailers in the world.  Quite an accomplishment for a fellow Arkansas boy.  Why am I writing about Walmart you ask, I usually blog about XYO or other cryptocurrencies.  

Well we know that Walmart has their fingers on the pulse of retail sales and are always looking for ways to reach the masses by offering products that people will actually buy, thus increasing the companies coffers.  Walmart will rarely be the first to offer something but they are more than ready to offer successful products for profit.  This think about the "As seen on TV" isle in nearly every Walmart in the US!  The items that were hocked as only available through this television offer are often found in the store for sale.  Which ones make to the shelves, the ones that are successful of course!  This being said, Walmart has "quietly" entered the world of Crypto!

The links included at the bottom of this blog are to articles discussing that Walmart has starting to allow Bitcoin purchases through their Coinstar kiosks network.  The new Coinstar machines will allow customers to purchase Bitcoin using the CoinMe cryptocurrency exchange.  They rolled out a total of 200 of these machines throughout the United States.  Coindesk verified that the machines are there (specifically a store in PA) and they do work.  Also, there is a 4% fee for the Bitcoin option plus a 7% fee for cash exchange.  

I can't think of a better way to "bring cryptocurrency to the masses" than setting up an exchange system in Walmart stores.  This is not a first of Coinstar, they have had the ATM like Bitcoin systems in other retailers, Winn-Dixie being one of the best known, since 2019.  It will be very interesting to track how this rollout changes the landscape of Cryptocurrency hodlers/users.

As always, this is not financial advise, just another cool thing happening in the world of Crypto.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!