Sergey Yusupov posted on twitter that he as imported 400 Bitcoin ATMs in Dubai. These ATMs could be operational within two weeks. Yusupov plans to have them operating in April all around the city. Yusupov's tweet shows a warehouse full of four hundred Bitcoin ATMs, though the exact location is unknown. The city authorities and government were not involved with importing the Units, and it was not disclosed if a license is needed to operate them. Yusupov also didn't mention what company would be responsible for upkeep and regulation of the units all over the city. As of right now, it seems that most of them are sitting in the warehouse, however, if he plans to have them operating in two weeks, the units will probably be shipped out and setup around the city very shortly. At this time there is no rock solid proof that the units are there, so take his tweet with a grain of salt. When the two week deadline approaches, we will know if he has the ATMs. CCN will bring you more coverage on this when there are further developments in the story.
Bitcoin ATMs have begun to trend all over the world. There are a few ATMs in the United States, and many more worldwide. After the Mt. Gox scandal or the "Goxxing", Bitcoin owners have been very reluctant to use exchange sites, and have been seeking other ways to get Bitcoin. ATMs cut the need to use an online exchange, and complete the transaction right then and there. The ability to buy and sell Bitcoin at a physical Kiosk provides peace of mind and ease. Having 400 Bitcoin ATMs in one city would be huge! With each new Bitcoin ATM that is placed in the world, Bitcoin becomes that much closer to being a mainstream currency. If people are trading Fiat money at a physical location for Bitcoin, that is a powerful thing.
The Bitcoin community continues to expand and create new technology. Cryptocurrencies drive the demand for ASIC chips, and other mining specific equipment. Trending Altcoins have even been driving development of ASIC chips that can mine Scrypt based coins, however, those chips are still less profitable than a good GPU.
In the United States, Bitcoin ATMs are heavily regulated and require many security measures to prevent money laundering and crime. It is currently unknown what features had to be added to these Bitcoin ATMs that are in Dubai; the laws are different, and they might not be very regulated at all. The thought of four hundred Bitcoin ATMs in one city is just unheard of, there is only a few in all of the United States.
It is clear that the popularity of this machine is growing, and companies are working to create more of them as the demand rises. Just like the demand for ASIC chips arose, the demand for Bitcoin ATMs will soon rise further as people seek to be able to use Bitcoin as a truly mainstream currency in their daily lives. People would be able to stop an ATM and turn cash into Bitcoin and then be able to complete online purchases from their phones after completing the transaction at the ATM. If Bitcoin becomes more widely accepted, this could even cut out the need for credit/debit cards and lead the currency into a whole new era of prosperity.
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