Five new Bitcoin ATMs are added every day, and the speed of BTM installation has surpassed that of bank teller machines

The outlook for Bitcoin is looking pretty bleak right now. Since the beginning of the year, the king of cryptocurrencies has lost more than 50% of its value, from $17,400 to around $8,000 currently. If the wave of negativity and media fear continues, its value could fall even further. All altcoins seem to be blindly following Bitcoin’s decline, and with this trend, a “coin market bloodbath” has taken place.

Newcomers to the cryptocurrency market may have already sold their stocks in a panic. This has caused the cryptocurrency market value to continue to fall to the support point. The total cryptocurrency market value has fallen by 53% in a month to a staggering $440 billion.

A ray of hope

It’s not all doom and gloom. Zooming in on the chart three months ago shows that Bitcoin’s total market capitalization was $200 billion in early November 2017. That’s 48% lower than its current market capitalization. And Bitcoin ATM providers appear to be benefiting from the decline. According to data from Coinatmradar.com, the installation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs has surged in recent months.

At the time of writing, there are 2,177 Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) worldwide. About 43% of Bitcoin ATMs also support other altcoins. On average, 5 Bitcoin ATMs are added every day, and a total of 136 Bitcoin ATMs were installed during the market correction. The number of Bitcoin ATMs increased from 954 on January 1, 2017 to 2,028 on January 1, 2018.

America Leads

The United States leads the way with 1,296 Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs). Canada is second with 340, and the United Kingdom is third with 108. Despite Japan and Asia dominating the global trade volume, it only has 47 BTMs, which is just 2.16% of the total. The convenience of using a BTM is obviously very attractive, but it comes at a price. The average fee to buy Bitcoin is 10.17%, while the average fee to sell Bitcoin is 7.13%, so it is not the most cost-effective way to buy Bitcoin. Other alternatives, such as Ethereum or Litecoin, have much lower fees and may surpass Bitcoin in the future.

As regulation increases, many BTM vendors are integrating identification features into their machines. Operators may choose to disable these features, but they are usually required to use them. Anonymous use is available in some locations, but a phone number is usually required.

The growth of infrastructure and adoption of cryptocurrencies is a better leading indicator of market conditions than the panic and bubble narratives in the popular media. Market corrections are a natural and healthy thing. Double-digit growth every week is unsustainable.