According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 1, crypto ATM operator Bitcoin Depot said it "remains on track to complete its previously announced business combination with GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp." The merger with the special purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC, is scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2023, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Bitcoin Depot estimates that the deal will infuse the company with up to $170 million in cash proceeds net of debt repayment. In its earnings report for year-to-date financials that ended Sept. 30, released the same …

Purchasing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE) or Ether (ETH) in Canada is on an upsurge as crypto ownership rises. Moreover, the Ontario Securities Commission, in their report, stated that more than 30% of Canadians plan to buy crypto assets in 2023. So, if you are wondering how to buy Bitcoin or crypto in Canada, then read on and familiarize yourself with the details. Is it legal to buy cryptocurrency in Canada? Cryptocurrency trading is legal in Canada even though it is not yet considered a legal tender. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) specifies what virtual currencies are and provides information …

On Oct. 29, 2013, a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada opened what is understood to be the world’s first publicly available Bitcoin (BTC) automatic teller machine (ATM) operated by Robocoin. The crypto ATM saw 348 transactions and $100,000 transacted in its first week of operation. As of Oct. 30, 2022 — nine years and one day on — Robocoin has ceased operations and the first crypto ATM has likely been removed or replaced, but crypto ATMs have continued to increase in number with 38,804 cryptocurrency ATMs in existence today, according to Coin ATM Radar. The global hub for crypto …

The Bitcoin ATM operator RockItCoin announced the acquisition of Tao Bitcoin on Oct. 25. Tao Bitcoin is a regional ATM operator with 56 machines, mostly located in the south of the United States. According to the company, the acquisition was part of they company's strategy to find value and synergies among smaller and regional players in the Bitcoin ATM space. With the deal, the machines operated by RockItCoin came to almost 1900 across 44 U.S. states. The Bitcoin ATM industry is poised for consolidation in 2023, according to RockItCoin's president Ben Phillips, with the company likely to acquire more players …

The European country of Spain is officially home to the third-largest network of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency ATMs after the United States and Canada. Spain currently hosts 215 crypto ATMs, pushing El Salvador — wi 212 crypto ATMs — down to the fourth position after surpassing the country by 3 crypto ATMs. Data from CoinATMRadar confirms that Spain represents 0.6% of the global crypto ATM installations. Moreover, the revelation places Spain as the highest contributor to crypto ATMs in Europe, which represents 14.65% of total installations in the continent, followed by Switzerland (144 ATMs), Poland (142 ATMs) and Romania (135 …

The domino effect of a prolonged bear market seeped into the Bitcoin (BTC) ATM ecosystem as September 2022 recorded negative growth in global net installations for the first time in history — primarily driven by a slowdown in the United States. The total number of Bitcoin ATMs installed over time fell to 37,980 in Sept. from an all-time high of 38,776 ATMs in August — resulting in a drop of -2.05%, as evidenced by data from CoinATMRadar. Data on net changes of crypto ATM installations confirm that, in September, 796 crypto ATMs were pulled off from the global network. The …

Greece is globally recognized for its touristic lures of idyllic beaches and a laid-back lifestyle. Prior to the outbreak of the global pandemic, the World Travel and Tourism Council said that tourism generated over one-fifth of Greece’s total GDP. This year, the country faced a record number of travelers during its summer tourism season. In the month of August alone, the country received nearly 1 million travel arrivals per week, according to the Greek Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias. A report from ForwardKeys on this year’s summer tourism revealed that, of the top ten “sun and beach” locations in Europe, …

Bitcoin Depot, a major cryptocurrency ATM provider in the United States, is planning to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Atlanta-based Bitcoin Depot has reached a definitive agreement to merge with the SPAC GSR II Meteora (GSRM) in an $885 million deal in order to go public, the firm officially announced on Thursday. The business combination would result in Bitcoin Depot becoming a publicly listed company as the combined company — to be dubbed Bitcoin Depot Inc. — will trade on the Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol BTM. The merger has been unanimously approved …

Bitcoin ATM manufacturer General Bytes had its servers compromised via a zero-day attack on Aug. 18, which enabled the hackers to make themselves the default admins and modify settings so that all funds would be transferred to their wallet address. The amount of funds stolen and number of ATMs compromised has not been disclosed but the company has urgently advised ATM operators to update their software. The hack was confirmed by General Bytes on Aug. 18, which owns and operates 8827 Bitcoin ATMs that are accessible in over 120 countries. The company is headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, which is …

Hyosung America has signed a partnership deal with cash-to-crypto provider DigitalMint that enables Bitcoin (BTC) purchasing across the firm’s 175,000 ATMs located in the United States. Apart from offering its own BTC and Litecoin (LTC) payment rails such as ATMs, bank wires and tellers, DigitalMint also provides software API integrations that allow retailers or ATM operators to sell BTC through their machines. As part of the deal, which was announced on Tuesda, Hyosung America will add DigitalMint’s crypto buying services to its upcoming API-based app store, which is being built for the firm’s ATMs. However, it will be up to …

Despite the myriads of state and federal regulatory hurdles faced by crypto businesses in the region, the United States plays a major role in preserving the Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto ecosystem. With China moving out of the picture following a permaban on crypto, the United States maintains the top position in terms of hash rate contribution and ATM installations worldwide. Prior to cracking down on BTC mining, China historically represented over 50% of the total hash rate up until Feb 2021. With China out of the competition, the U.S. picked up the slack to become the highest BTC hash rate …

Bitcoin (BTC) ATM installations have marked a new comeback as June 2022 saw the reversal of the five-month-long downward trajectory for the first time this year. The global ATM installations worldwide fell consistently throughout the year, with May reporting the lowest number of 205 ATM installations. However, June saw the installation of over 882 ATMs in just the first ten days. As evidenced by the above graph, May 2022’s drop reached a range that was last seen three years ago in 2019. Over the last two years, in 2020 and 2021, Bitcoin ATM installations grew consistently owing to friendlier regulatory …