I have never used one of these things and to be honest, I probably never would. But after speaking to the owner of the machines and how he (and his presumed team) already have 6 of these things operating in and around Ho Chi Minh City and must be reasonably successful with them in order to transfer them here to Da Nang, I believe that it is probably good that this sort of business exists.
The manager or owner of the machines gave me a brief intro into how someone would use the machine and if you already have a wallet, it is really quite easy. Well, it looks easy when he does the demo. There are actually quite a few problems that can arise depending on how you access your wallet.
I have never used any crypto in this capacity so for me having access to my QR code for my wallet is not something I am extremely used to, but once he showed me where it was and how to use it, it really is quite easy.
This machine functions in a pretty cool way, and if you have ever used one you are probably already familiar with it. You either put cash into it and it credits your wallet with the appropriate BTC amount or vice-versa, that’s really all there is to it. This is a non-KYC machine and that will likely appeal to a lot of people out there.
I did run into something that will likely be a problem for a lot of people though. While it is legal in Vietnam to buy and sell BTC, it is not legal to accept it for any purchases and therefore I believe that a lot of systems err on the side of caution and simply do not allow it to be used from a Vietnamese IP address. This is easy enough to get around with a VPN but it could be problematic for a novice user.
The exchange rate is updated in real time and there is no funny business going on here. The owner demonstrated using his own wallet to a group and then he "gave" some BTC to someone that was there for the grand opening to show everyone how simple it is. Obviously, there is a bit of a waiting time for the transaction to go through if you are selling the BTC, but the deposits or purchases go though a lot quicker than you might think.
Some people might be turned off by the fees but it is understandable why they would charge them seeing as how BTC transactions are not free for them either, the machines themselves cost a bit of cash, and the system that it runs on had to be developed and maintained as well.
I will admit that I am not an expert on any of these things and have only a rudimentary knowledge of them but some people might be a bit turned off by the 4% fee to buy BTC here, and the 6% fee to sell it for cash. All of this is completely legal as is detailed in this and many other articles written about it. It remains, and likely will remain, very illegal to accept BTC or any other crypto for that matter, for any purchase or sale of goods and services. I can only speculate as to why, but I would imagine it has something to do with taxation.
The machine, hopefully just one of many to come, is located in Westwood Da Nang, which I didn't even know existed until I was invited to this. What can I say? I am private person that doesn't get out very much and some might call that boring, but I call it life. Nadi appreciates the routine and lack of activities on my part.
The restaurant though, even if you don't care about the BTC ATM machine, is absolutely stellar, and is one of the best places I have been to eat in quite some time. It would probably be considered mid-range as most meals are around $10-$20 but the chefs cook right in front of you and I like that. No funny business going on with the prep, no 5-second rule in effect.
Here is the location. I know that I will be back here not just because I like to support efforts to further crypto, but also because the food was outstanding and the ambiance was really nice here as well.
It was quite busy while I was there since it was a private function, but I was told that the staff are more than happy to talk to people about getting a wallet and even set them up with one if they want the help. I think a lot of people are intimidated by such things but I think a lot of this is because some people that are seriously into it enjoy throwing around unnecessary words into normal speech that can be off-putting. I suggested to the guy, who clearly IS an expert in the lingo, to tone it down a bit when he is speaking to a novice. No sense in throwing out at ton of acronyms to a noob, you'll just scare them off and they have no idea what a lot of these terms mean :)
Go check them out and give them your support. Like I said, the restaurant is outstanding in its own right, so you don't really need to be interested in crypto at all to have a good time there.