China's first Bitcoin ATM landed in Shanghai, reporters personally tested the purchase experience

On March 15, Hong Kong's first Bitcoin ATM was authorized for use in a coffee shop; on March 8, South Korea's first Bitcoin ATM appeared in a coffee shop in Seoul; on February 28, Canada's first Bitcoin ATM was also installed next to a coffee shop; today, China's first Bitcoin ATM will also appear in a coffee shop in Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Before it officially "joined the job", a reporter from China Business News took the lead in experiencing this Bitcoin ATM yesterday and completed the first transaction to purchase Bitcoin on this machine.

"Our ATM can only be used to purchase Bitcoin with cash, but Bitcoin cannot be exchanged for cash, so it is inaccurate to call it a Bitcoin ATM. It is more like a vending machine." Bitcoin China CEO Li Qiyuan introduced to the reporter of "First Financial Daily".

The white machine in front of us is much smaller than the bank's ATM, but it is very heavy and requires two adult men to lift it. Li Qiyuan told the reporter of "China Business Daily" that this machine was purchased last year for about tens of thousands of yuan. "When I first bought it, it was just a brick and could not realize any function. We need to develop the corresponding program for this machine. Now this machine has been connected to our system, and the exchange rate is also calculated according to the price on our system." Li Qiyuan said.

So, how should this machine be operated? First, you need a BTC China account, find your wallet QR code and print it out (or download it to your phone), press the "START" button on the ATM screen, then scan the QR code in the information reading area, insert cash, and you can buy the corresponding amount of Bitcoin. Of course, the purchased Bitcoins will be automatically sent to your wallet instead of "spitting out" Bitcoins.

Although it is very interesting, the efficiency of this machine is not high. Due to the constraints of the Bitcoin protocol, it takes about 10 minutes to see the first "confirmation" in the wallet record, and the formal completion of a Bitcoin transaction requires 6 confirmations, which means that it will take an hour to actually "see" the purchased Bitcoin in the wallet. In comparison, the mobile ATM developed by Bitcoin China is much more efficient.

"Since the transaction is completed within our system and does not need to be connected to the ATM machine manufacturer's system, our funds are instantly credited." Li Qiyuan told the reporter from China Business News that currently only a web version of the mobile ATM has been developed, and the development of an APP will be considered in the future.

The operation of mobile ATM is also very simple, which is very suitable for peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions. For people who use mobile ATM, they can directly collect cash from the buyer, or charge through third-party payment and bank transfer, and then directly deposit Bitcoin into the buyer's wallet. In other words, the buyer himself does not need to know how to operate the mobile ATM, but at least still needs a registered account of Bitcoin China.

The reporter of China Business News also had an experience. After logging into the mobile ATM, he can see some basic information, such as the balance of bitcoins, the value in RMB, the QR code of the wallet and the wallet account address, etc. If it is the first time to log in, he needs to set a 4-digit password. Click the "ATM" function, enter the amount of legal currency you want, and the system will automatically calculate the value in bitcoins. Enter the buyer's phone number and click Next. The buyer will receive a confirmation text message and inform the seller of the 4-digit password provided in the text message. The seller enters the password and presses Confirm to complete the transaction. Of course, the buyer also needs to pay the corresponding amount of cash.

In the settings of the mobile ATM, the seller can freely set the proportion of the handling fee (1%~10%), which means that the seller can make a small profit by selling Bitcoin; the currencies of different countries and regions can also be set, from Hong Kong dollars to US dollars, from Japanese yen to euros, and can be used worldwide.

"Very interesting, isn't it!" Li Qiyuan told our reporter that he believes the launch of these two products will greatly lower the threshold for purchasing Bitcoin, allowing ordinary people to purchase Bitcoin very conveniently, and playing with Bitcoin will no longer be the exclusive domain of speculators.