Since the day of its inception, bitcoin has come a long way. It really seems hard to believe that during the initial period, it has faced countless denunciations from all sides. But I guess the final outcome is in front of us. Bitcoin has turned out to be a major success and it has challenged the traditional payment system in a way like never before. The world’s first cryptocurrency as we call it, Bitcoin became an inspiration for hundreds of other cryptocurrencies popularly known as Altcoins. The word, ‘Altcoin’ itself is an indication that these are just clones to the bitcoin and are derived from the original bitcoin source-code provided by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Another revolution came three year later when a Bitcoin ATM was first brought to light. It was a small internet machine installed in a coffee shop at Vancouver, Canada. As it turned out, people really liked the idea of using an ATM for converting their money into bitcoin and vice-versa. And the years that followed saw a marvelous expansion of the bitcoin network. As inconceivable as it sounds, today there are somewhat around 900 ATMs across the world with more coming every now and then. One of the reasons why some people are still skeptical about the use of bitcoins is ‘lack of knowledge.’ A majority of people are still unaware of the availability of bitcoin ATMs as well as the online exchanges. Well, the thing is, “being a beginner, even if you own a bitcoin, you probably don’t know how to do with it.” Whether it’s about exchanging, selling or buying a bitcoin, you will need help if you’re doing that for the first time.

Also read New Bitcoin Wallets Lining Up In Support of SegWit.

When it’s about buying or selling a certain amount of bitcoins, a Bitcoin ATM is probably the best option you have. It especially provides a great leverage over the bitcoin exchanges that take several hours to process and clear a transaction. So if you’re going to use a bitcoin ATM for the first time, this blog is worth a read. A bitcoin ATM can be used for two main purposes.

• Buy Bitcoins

• Sell Bitcoins

While Bitcoin ATMs provide these two facilities, a majority of these ATMs provide only the buying facility. These ATMs are called one-way ATMs and the others that provide both these facilities are called two-way ATMs. In this blog, I’ll tell you how to use both. So keep on reading.

Buying Bitcoins Via ATM

To tell you the truth, every Bitcoin ATM has a slightly different procedure of buying and selling bitcoins. So in this blog, I’ll tell about some simple steps that you might need to follow to buy bitcoins and sell bitcoins. The steps involved in using all the bitcoin ATMs are almost similar and once you get to know these basic steps, you can easily use any bitcoin ATM located anywhere around the world. So, here’s how you do it.

• Go to the ATM, select language if it asks and tap on Start or Proceed (whatever is shown).

• The next thing that is generally asked is you phone number. So feed in your number and tap on Proceed.

• Once you do that, it will send a verification code to the number you have given.

• Enter the verification code and tap on Proceed.

• If it’s a two-way ATM, you’ll see two options (Buy Bitcoins and Sell Bitcoins). If it’s a one-way ATM, you’ll see a single option to buy bitcoins. Tap on that to proceed further.

• The next thing you need to do is ‘enter your wallet details.’ If the ATM has a built-in camera, you can scan the QR-code of your wallet address. If not, then you’ll need to enter the bitcoin wallet address.

• The next step is to enter cash. Specify how much worth of bitcoins do you want to have. And place the cash bills at the receiver somewhere down the screen. Once you place your bills there, it will automatically take it in.

• That’s it! Once your cash is accepted, the proportionate BTC amount will be credited to your wallet.

Selling Bitcoins Via ATM

You can also sell your bitcoins if the facility is available in the same way. All the steps will be the same. Only at the fifth stage, select Sell Bitcoins from the two options displayed on the screen. That’s it. Specify the amount of BTC that you want to sell. Then it might ask you for an alternate wallet address. This wallet should be different from your bitcoin wallet and it should be meant for storing virtual cash instead of cryptocurrencies. Once you proceed after adding these details, the amount of money worth of your BTC will be sent to that wallet address once the process is completed.

So that’s pretty much how you use an ordinary bitcoin ATM. The procedure may vary depending on the type of ATM you are using. But the basic approach will always be the same. So next time you see a bitcoin ATM, don’t hesitate to give it try.