Money Spinners: Bitcoin ATMs Make Capitol Hill Debut

It's a special edition of the bitcoin ATM roundup this week as Robocoin went to Washington, DC, a couple of new players entered the European market via Finland and Slovenia and Quebec City received two bitcoin 'guichets automatique.'

Washington, DC USA

Surrounded by reporters and camera crews from some of the world's largest news organisations, more than 50 members of the US Congress lined up in Rayburn House on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to test a Robocoin ATM.

Presented by Robocoin's management team at the invitation of Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), the Robocoin machine received an enthusiastic response from other members.

Polis said:

"The innovation of online currency will be an important economic driver for the future that allows people and companies to reduce transaction costs and facilitate international transactions."

He added that it is physical cash, not bitcoin, that presents the easiest opportunity to hide illicit activity.

Charleston, SC, USA

Another US Robocoin appeared in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Dig South Interactive Technology Festival. This machine comes courtesy of company Southeast Bitcoin, "the South’s only Bitcoin ATM operator."

Helsinki, Finland

Newcomer Cointter has launched two very utilitarian bitcoin machines in Helsinki, Finland.

Looking a little like a cross between a payphone and a hotel safe, the machines are northern Europe's first two-way bitcoin ATMs, buying and selling bitcoins for cash.

One is in Helsinki's Delish store and the other in the Kynsilaukka restaurant. Both were developed in cooperation with LocalBitcoins.com.

Cointter promises future models with a more refined design, which it plans to ship to other European locations including France and the UK.

Quebec City, Canada

Two Genesis1 two-way ATMs opened in the historic heart of Quebec City this week.

The machines exchange Canadian dollars for both bitcoin and litecoin, and are located in the Auberge Amerik Hotel and the nearby Baguette et Cie coffee shop.

Genesis Coin CEO Evan Rose said:

"Canada has proven itself to be a leader in bringing tangibility to the otherwise digital world of bitcoin ... We want individuals to experience bitcoin in its most elegant form: swift, simple, secure."

Slovenia

Slovenia, famous for giving the world it's currently most popular bitcoin exchange Bitstamp, is now also home to one-way bitcoin kiosks of a previously unknown variety. The operator's company website is short on detail, but it seems the machines are called 'BTC-O-Matic' and that there are at least two operating.