LibertyX installed its bitcoin ATMs in 33 states, allowing consumers to acquire the digital currency at more than 2,500 locations.
The MassChallenge startup, LibertyX, enables consumers to buy bitcoin at over 2,500 locations in 33 states across the US.
Formerly known as Liberty Teller, the financial services company has installed the first ATM in the South Station of Boston in February. It seems like the best location as millions of people commute through the station each year. The second kiosk was opened in March at the Clover eatery in Harvard Square.
“After our installations at MIT and Harvard, we were inundated with requests to place LibertyX bitcoin ATMs across the country. We spent the last several months building a highly scalable bitcoin purchasing solution to address these previously underserved markets. We are excited to launch this new retail store channel that removes access as a major remaining barrier of bitcoin adoption,” said Chris Yim, LibertyX Co-founder and MIT alumnus.
According to Yim, 60 machines will be installed in Massachusets and 9 in Boston. He said Liberty X cooperated with “a national network of stores and (is) leveraging their existing footprint. Cashiers as virtual ATMs make for a much more capital efficient model and we do not need to deploy additional hardware.”
LibertyX will provide consumers with a simple way of buying bitcoin and will allow saving time required by banks to confirm the transactions. Besides, the ATMs will removes the risks of counterparty.
In order to use the ATM, consumers can create the virtual bitcoin wallet to carry the cryptocurrency or use the ordinary paper wallet. Each wallet type includes a QR code, which can be scanned by the machine. To buy the cryptocurrency, the user has to scan the code, then insert the cash and after 30 seconds the bitcoins will be transferred to the virtual wallet.
The paper wallets have an address for receiving bitcoin and a private key for importing the cryptocurrency on the paper wallet to a digital wallet.
Liberty X Co-founder Kyle Powers commented: “We’ve been the go-to bitcoin solution for thousands of consumers already from our modest base of 4 machines. That successful proof of concept set the stage for this integration, which will help us grow by a several orders of magnitude. We continue to believe the cash channel is important for bringing bitcoin to those who will benefit from it the most.”
The MIT Bitcoin Project, aimed at increasing bitcoin usage among the students and create the bitcoin ecosystem in the University, provides $100 of bitcoin to every undergraduate student.
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