News in Brief

Accessing Cash at ATMs with Bitcoin

In the UK a company called BitcoinPoint has acted to make owning and using bitcoins easier. They are collaborating with the independent ATM operator Cashzone, who run 16,000 ATMs across the UK.

BitcoinPoint want to make bitcoin a mass market product and know that registering on a crypto exchange can be a daunting task for people who are not tech-savvy. They have developed an app to allow people to buy and sell bitcoins through a network of easily accessible points of contact such as bureaux de change and newsagents, as well as online.

The deal with Cashzone is BitcoinPoint’s next step to make bitcoins accessible and attractive to a mass market. It allows people to turn their bitcoins into cash easily and conveniently. The bitcoin owner uses BitcoinPoint’s app to enter the amount required and scan a QR code. They then receive an SMS message with a PIN code to be entered at the ATM which then issues the cash. No card or bank membership is required.