El Salvador’s ranking as the fourth-largest center for crypto ATMs was transient because Australia improved its performance in the ensuing months.
- In terms of the overall number of crypto ATM installations, El Salvador, the first nation to allow Bitcoin, has dropped another position.
- In Australia, 225 ATMs are expected to be operational by 2023.
El Salvador’s Crypto Adoption in 2021
President Nayib Bukele chose to set up more than 200 cryptocurrency ATMs around El Salvador as part of his effort to make Bitcoin a recognized form of currency. After the US and Canada at the time, this move made El Salvador the third-largest hub for crypto ATMs in September 2021; nevertheless, in 2022, Spain and Australia passed El Salvador in terms of ATM count.
The number of Crypto ATM installations reached a record high in 2021, with 27,664 operational machines and 2,790 new machines added in September. El Salvador’s campaign to install more ATMs was intensified with the recent presidential directive requiring all companies to accept Bitcoin as payment. Before taking their profits, however, the merchants could still convert Bitcoin payments to dollars. While other countries were reluctant to accept Bitcoin as a legitimate asset, an average of 63.7 ATMs are still being deployed daily worldwide.
The adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador saw some local resistance, which most recently resulted in the burning a Chivo-supported Bitcoin machine. Those opposed to the widespread use of Bitcoin raised issues with unpredictability, price volatility, and lack of exposure to the cryptocurrency market, all of which may be factors in El Salvador’s declining adoption rate.
Australia Overtook El Salvador’s Position
After installing 215 cryptocurrency ATMs, Spain became the third-largest hub, according to a report from October 2022. But Spain kept up its installation campaign, and 226 crypto ATMs are located there as of this writing. El Salvador’s ranking as the fourth-largest center for crypto ATMs was transient because Australia improved its performance in the following months.
According to CoinATMRadar data, 99 cryptocurrency ATMs were installed in Australia in the last three months of 2022. Australia had 219 cryptocurrency ATMs operational as of January 1, 2023, surpassing El Salvador by 7 ATMs.
At this rate, Australia would surpass Asia’s current 312 crypto ATMs, which account for 0.6% of all installed ATMs worldwide. Thirty-eight thousand six hundred two crypto ATMs have been deployed worldwide as of 2022, with 6,071 of those being new.
Lightning-enabled Bitcoin ATM
The first Bitcoin ATM with integrated Lightning Network functionality has arrived in the Australian city of Coolangatta. Public usage of the brand-new ATM is now possible at Coolangatta’s The Strand shopping center.
Due to the rapid transaction capabilities of the layer-2 Lightning solution, a Bitcoin Lightning ATM operates very similarly to a typical Bitcoin ATM while saving a lot of time. Additionally, it enables the purchase of lesser amounts of bitcoin, typically in satoshis, the smallest unit of value in the cryptocurrency, with one satoshi equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC.
Because the operators don’t need to batch the funds while using Lightning, the transaction can happen instantly. When money is deposited, the user gets paid using the Lightning Network. Although it is unclear if the fees will be drastically decreased, they will most certainly be less than an on-chain payment.
Conclusion
After Australia passed El Salvador to take over as the fourth-largest Bitcoin ATM hub in the world, the nation recently installed a Lightning-enabled Bitcoin ATM. Customers are encouraged to make their banking transactions through such channels.
