The recent decision of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina to relax the regulation of ATMs led almost immediately to the creation of a plan for the installation of 4,000 new crypto-compatible ATMs. This lot is the first of a larger order of 30,000 distributors.
A boom due to the change of the regulations
Although regulatory change does not specifically mention cryptocurrencies, it will greatly encourage crypto-compatible distributors to see the light of day.
Indeed, the regulation is built along two main axes:
- First, it now allows the installation of vending machines outside banks (grocery stores, pharmacies) ...
- Secondly, it is now possible for private companies to enter the vending machine sector. In fact, before that, the licenses were granted only to international networks Link and Banelco banking network .
The first company to take advantage of these legislative changes is the Odyssey Group. CEO Sebastian Ponceliz said that "we have pre-agreements for the installation of 4,000 crypto-compatible vending machines and this is only a small part of the 30,000 new vending machines coming in , ordered by the central bank".
Return on investment within 6 months
Remember that the Odyssey group entered the Argentine ATM market last year, when the company installed 200 ATMs across the country . These distributors allowed the bidirectional exchange of Bitcoin , Litecoin and Ethereum .
Although the news is exciting, the unit price of vending machines is high; $ 8,000 each , plus an installation cost ranging from $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 . In addition, the independent owners will be responsible for the custody of the machines storing money. These prices do not seem to scare the Odyssey group, which predicts rapid returns on investment. According to the calculations of the group, each machine will amortize itself in 5 to 6 months , counting an average of 10,000 transactions per month , for a well located machine.
Crypto-compatible vending machines are blooming over the months around the world. The British company Bitcoin ATM Bitlish said last May it intends to install 5,000 new Bitcoin distributors across Europe.