El Salvador to install 1,500 Bitcoin ATMs

Athena Bitcoin, a U.S.-based bitcoin ATM manufacturer, announced Thursday that it plans to invest more than $1 million to install about 1,500 bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador, particularly in places where residents receive remittances from abroad.

According to the company's website, you can use their ATMs to buy Bitcoin or exchange your Bitcoin for cash.

The company expects to gradually install about 1,500 ATMs, hire employees, and open an office in El Salvador to start operations. Earlier this month, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The move will take effect in September.

Matias Goldenhorn, head of Latin America operations at Athena Bitcoin, said that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele “has given us a big challenge to have 1,500 ATMs, and we will try to achieve it, but in stages. We are a private company and we want to make sure that our development in this country is sustainable.”

He added: “Initially we’re going to bring in a few dozen machines, (we’re going to) test what the business model is in El Salvador, which is probably different than in the U.S..”

A year ago, Athena Bitcoin installed the first cryptocurrency ATM on El Zonte Beach, about 49 kilometers southwest of the El Salvadorian capital of San Salvador, as part of an experiment called "Bitcoin Beach" aimed at making the town the world's first Bitcoin economy.