BTC ATMs to be installed by Crypto Athena BTC in El Salvador
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
• El Salvador is the first country in the world to accept BTC as legal currency and is now preparing to install BTC ATMs.
• The crypto industry in El Salvador has experienced constant innovation.
El Salvador trended when it announced that it would accept BTC as legal currency. Since then, the crypto market in the country has seen constant growth and innovation. The latest plan from the government of El Salvador is to install 1,500 digital currency ATMs throughout the country.
These BTC ATMs will be courtesy of Crypto Athena BTC, the ATM manufacturer. Athena BTC is planning to invest close to $1 million towards installing these ATMs in El Salvador.
BTC ATMs will be nationwide
A company representative affirms these ATMs will be installed mainly in areas where residents receive remittances from abroad. The Athena BTC company website indicates that users can buy or sell BTC for cash through their ATMs.
The company wants to install 1,500 ATMs. Additionally, they also want to wants to recruit and hire personnel to establish an office in the country. El Salvador has become the first country to recognize and adopt BTC as a legal currency in June. The measure will take effect in September.
Matias Goldenhörn, Crypto Athena BTC director for Latin America, has said that President Nayib Bukele presented a great challenge of 1500 BTC ATMs. The company plans to install the BTC ATMs progressively and in phases. The director also commented that they are a private company and want to ensure that their development in El Salvador is innovative and sustainable.
However, this is not the first ATM of this company in the country. The Athena BTC firm placed its first automated digital currency ATM a year ago on El Zonte beach in El Salvador; it is 30 miles (49 kilometers) southwest of San Salvador, the country’s capital.
This was part of an experiment named BTC Beach and aimed to establish one of the world’s first BTC economies.
An innovative project for El Salvador
The President of El Salvador has praised the potential of BTC to send remittances for Salvadorans living in other countries. President Bukele has announced this development will not be limited to only BTC ATMs in the country.
President Bukele has said that the nation will boost its BTC mining activities with geothermal energy from volcanoes. This move came in response to recent concerns regarding BTC’s crypto power consumption and its impact on the environment.
This development was followed by the World Bank’s claims that it will not help El Salvador given the environmental deficiencies that the country faces and the transparency in its BTC implementation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also commented that it has seen financial, macroeconomic, and legal problems with this cryptocurrency adoption in El Salvador.
