US With Highest Number of Closed Bitcoin ATMs in Negative Growth Year

The number of ATMs supporting digital currencies has fallen around the world over the course of a turbulent year for the whole industry. According to a new report, the United States has lost more machines offering crypto teller services than any other country, while Australia tops the chart in terms of new installations.

Automated teller machines (ATMs) allowing users to purchase cryptocurrencies or exchange coins for fiat have decreased in number in the past year. According to data compiled by Coin ATM Radar, the period started with 38,691 and ended with 38,603 bitcoin ATMs, a negative growth of 88 units or -0.2%. The tracking site emphasized:

This is the first time we can see a negative number of Bitcoin ATM installations.

The figures come from the Radar’s Bitcoin ATM Market Dynamics December 2022 report. The study shows that the U.S. remains the pronounced leader in terms of active ATMs, with 33,941 locations out of a global total of 38,608. However, the nation has also seen the most crypto ATMs removed last year — 188, or 0.6%.

“When we take a look at the most active countries list, the first thing we can notice is that the usually dominant United States is in the last place,” the authors remarked. Meanwhile, Australia has climbed to the top of the list with 50 new installations which represent an increase of almost 30%.

Canada, where 16 new BATMs have been installed, is next with 0.6% positive growth, bringing its total to 2,558. It’s followed by Hong Kong which at the end of 2022 had nine more machines than at the beginning of the year, a 6.8% increase to a new all-time high of 142 for the Chinese special administrative region.

The only EU country in the top five, Germany, added eight bitcoin ATMs to its 89 in 2021. Mexico has the highest growth in Latin America (17.1%), from 35 to 41 machines. They are followed by around a dozen European nations with positive statistics but the Old Continent still lags far behind North America in the totals.

Among the other findings in the research worth noting is that the share of bitcoin ATMs supporting other cryptocurrencies besides BTC has risen during the studied period and currently stands at almost 68%. With 11 additions (0.18% increase), dash was the most added coin in December.

General Bytes, Genesis Coin, and Freedom Gateway remain the most active manufacturers of crypto teller machines. General Bytes had 222 devices installed during the examined period. Coinhub, Coinflip Bitcoin ATMs, Olliv, and Coin Time were the operators that saw significant increases in the number of machines they were managing.

Do you think 2023 will bring a change to the bitcoin ATM market dynamics? Share your expectations in the comments section below.