Walmart Orders Installation of 200 Bitcoin ATMs Across US Retail Stores

In a bid to actively participate in the crypto-adoption drive, American retail giant Walmart has decided to get 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed in select store branches located across the country. People visiting Walmart stores will be able to insert a banknote in exchange for a paper voucher that brings along a redemption code. People are required to set up an account on a crypto-cash exchange platform and complete a background check. In Walmart's case, the crypto-cash platform is Coinme.

These Bitcoin ATMs however, won't allow customers to withdraw Bitcoin from their account. The world's most-valued cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,000 (roughly Rs. 49.4 lakh).

“Walmart expands Bitcoin access to more people, though, and gives it further legitimacy among skeptics, should they roll it out beyond an initial pilot,” in a report, Bloomberg quoted industry experts as saying.

The public reaction to the news has been overwhelming on social media.

As part of its future plans, Walmart aims to install around 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs in its retail stores across the US.

While these ATMs could potentially prove vital in escalating Bitcoin adoption in the US, they charge a significant surcharge of 11 percent on each transaction.

While four percent of it is for the Bitcoin option, the other seven percent is the cach exchange fee. These fees are comparatively lower on crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, among others.

The operation of Bitcoin ATMs is picking up pace in other parts of the world as well. In El Salvador for instance, Bitcoin ATMs allow people to transact in the crypto token or convert it to fiat. In September, El Salvador became the first country in the world to legalise the Bitcoin as a legal tender.