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If a Bitcoin investor wants to exchange his virtual coins for "real" money, he has two options: he sells them via a cryptocurrency exchange. Or he lets them pay off directly at an ATM.
There are already some such machines in Switzerland. And not only here: Also in most European countries and in many overseas countries - only in Germany not. Here a permission of financial supervision BaFin is necessary. "This is very difficult to get," says the marketing director of the Austrian Bitcoin machine operator Cointed, Albert Sperl. "We are already trying for about 19 months."

In such Bitcoin ATMs, a distinction must be made between two devices: one-way vending machines, where only the purchase of Bitcoin with cash is possible, and two-way vending machines, through which virtual currency can also be exchanged for cash. According to the industry service Coinatmradar, there are 2400 cryptocurrency ATMs worldwide, one third of which are two-way ATMs.
Every day around 15 new locations are added. Most devices are in the US, Canada, UK, Austria and Switzerland.


"Interest in the crypto-ATMs is huge," says Sperl. The Tyrol-based Cointed GmbH operates four machines in Austria, where Bitcoin holders can draw euro bills. 55 more are sold in countries such as Norway, Hungary, Spain and Liechtenstein. Even in Germany there would be a huge market for it, Sperl is sure. "We assume that if the laws would be relaxed, we could immediately deploy them to the 800 ATMs in Germany." Both types of vending machines are included in this bill.

High fees
The Bitcoin machines work in principle like classic ATMs from banks. The customer receives from the device a QR code displayed on the screen or printed on paper. This must be scanned with the smartphone to then transfer Bitcoin to the ATM operator. In some cases, the customer receives a pin sent to his mobile phone. He enters this code at the machine and receives the desired amount in dollars , euros or francs .

Of course, it is possible to pay off only a fraction of a Bitcoin, since a piece of the cyber currency is currently worth more than $ 11,000. There are also upper limits: The Swiss Bitcoin ATM provider Värdex pays a maximum of 2000 francs per transaction. Generally, more machines are currently being bought at Bitcoin than sold, says Värdex CEO Remo Uherek. The fees for customers are comparatively high. According to Coinatmradar, operators demand an average of around eight percent.

Start-ups have the business in their hands
Bitcoin machines are usually operated by start-ups. Classic banks have not dared to approach the business so far. For them, above all the question of risk management in the room, it said in the environment of German supervisory authorities. These include how institutions should determine market price risks or liquidity risks for the calculation of capital requirements.

For banks, this has so far proved impossible. This is shown by the example of Volksbank Mittweida in Saxony. She filed her plans for a Bitcoin ATM because the regulatory and IT requirements were too high, a bank spokesman explains.

To operate a Bitcoin machine, a BaFin permit is required in Germany. It classified Bitcoin seven years ago as a so-called unit of account, and thus as a financial instrument to which certain rules apply. It's different in Austria. "Under Austrian law, cryptocurrencies are classified as goods and are not subject to financial supervision," said a spokesman for the supervisory authority in Vienna. Bitcoin is thus on a par with pork bellies, but operators of cryptocurrency ATMs therefore do not need regulatory approval.

Although such is necessary in Switzerland, Finma has already approved several Bitcoin ATMs. According to Coinatmradar, there are 14 machines in this country where customers can exchange bitcoin in francs or vice versa.