World's First Bitcoin ATM Launched in Vancouver, Canada

The world’s first Bitcoin ATM machine which can exchange digital currency - Bitcoins -for any official currency has launched in Vancouver, Canada on 29 October 2013.

The ATM machine, named Robocoin, installed at Waves Coffee Shop at Howe and Smithe, allows users to buy or sell the digital currency known as bitcoins. The ATM in Vancouver is operated by Las Vegas-basedRobocoin and Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs.

About Bitcoins

• Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is unregulated by any central bank or government, but still works for purchasing goods and services from retailers willing to accept it.
• Bitcoins, which are created when they are "mined" or generated by a super computer, also trade on an open market that fluctuates much like a stock market.

How Bitcoin ATM works?

• Customers will need to have their palms scanned in order to exchange up to 3000 US dollars  worth of bitcoins per day.
• The bitcoins will then be transferred to and from the customer's on-line bitcoin wallet.
• Users will have the option to receive a paper voucher representing the transaction.

Bitcoin, which came into existence in 2009, is not controlled by any authority such as a central bank. The concept was introduced in 2008 by a pseudonymous developer known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto." The currency has reportedly gained notoriety for its use to buy illicit goods such as drugs on websites. However, bitcoins are increasingly being accepted by legitimate businesses around the world.