After going missing during the crypto winter of 2018, Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs have resurfaced in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, allowing residents of those cities to trade cryptocurrency using devices other than their phones and computers.
Previously, there were several cryptocurrency ATMs, often referred to as BTMs in Japan and other countries, dispersed across significant business centers. Up until the catastrophic Coincheck hack in January 2018, which almost completely devastated the Japanese cryptocurrency industry.
Following the 2013–2014 Mt. Fox tragedy, the popularity of cryptocurrency investments in Japan has fallen along with investor trust. BTMs, which once played a significant role in Japan's cryptocurrency economy, were shut down and decommissioned months after the Coincheck event.
It has been four years since a BTM was still in use in Japan. At this time, BTMs are making a comeback in both Tokyo and Osaka.
According to a press release from the organization that started this initiative, Gaia BTM, traders can now buy or sell bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC) at the machine.
Gaia BTM announced that it would keep deploying equipment across the nation in the coming months and aims to have 50 BTMs operational within the next 12 months. Additionally, it plans to increase that expansion to 130 in the following three years.
The last time a BTM ran in Japan was four years ago. Today, however, such is no longer the case thanks to the installation of machines in both Tokyo and Osaka.
The business behind the move, Gaia BTM, revealed in a news statement that traders will be able to buy or sell bitcoin (BTC), as well as ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC).
This is a first for the Japanese cryptocurrency industry, according to the media, as no other regulator-recognized corporation in Japan has ever operated a BTM; all earlier devices were made by foreign nations or unregistered local enterprises.
Licensed cryptocurrency exchange Gaia BTM, situated in Osaka, is authorized by law to conduct transactions using its own cryptocurrency.
The company said that the BTMs have "anti-crime procedures" built-in to them in order to look for potential instances of money laundering.
Withdrawals are only permitted in quantities of 1,000 yen (USD 7.64), with a transaction cap of 10,000 yen. Users' daily withdrawals will also be capped at USD 2,290.
Gaia BTM asserts that BTC and other coins had the potential to become "payment currency," and as a result, it sought to "extend" into payment environments involving cryptocurrencies.
Gaia BTM asserted that it would carry on installing equipment across the nation in the months to come with the goal of having 50 BTMs operational in a year. In the following three years, it also plans to increase that number to 130.