East London’s, The Old Shoreditch Station coffee bar install the UK’s first Bitcoin ATM… In July 2013, our cafe bar became the first coffee house in the UK to accept the much maligned and misunderstood virtual currency. Now customers will not only have the option to spend their Bitcoins on a coffee or a fresh pastry, they will also find the means to transform their hard earned cash into virtual Bitcoins instantly using what is being dubbed, a ‘Bitcoin ATM’.Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world.It is rapidly gaining popularity with individuals and businesses, due to its simplicity and its freedom from transactional fees.In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live (Saturday 1st February) our Managing Director confirmed that we intend to have the UK’s first Bitcoin ATM installed in 10 days and explained why the currency has grown in popularity.‘Currently, the main people who seem to be using Bitcoin are tourists, for obvious reasons…because there is no exchange rate.

It is a borderless currency.So if you have purchased some Bitcoin you can turn up at one of Jaguar Shoes venues, pull out your phone and say, “I want to buy that with a Bitcoin” and it won’t cost a penny in currency exchange fees… It is very, very quick and easy.As quick, if not quicker than doing a PDQ transaction with a credit card.’ – Nick Letchford MD – Jaguar Shoes Collective      Source – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01rr26t Numerous ATM manufacturers are experimenting with models to support Bitcoin cash deposits and withdrawals. Although this is the first cash machine of its kind to reach the UK, hundreds of ATMs like this one have been installed globally over the last 6 months.”Purchasing Bitcoins online can be a long and difficult process.Our ATM offers cash to Bitcoin conversion through a fast, secure transaction, using a compact and attractive wall mounted ATM.Insert cash and confirm the transaction with a scan on screen to your smart phone. Larger ATMs will become available soon, that can also dispense cash for coin. These are complex and due to the security required, we’d rather see more test time in the field before introducing these to all our venues, but we intend to in due course.” – Simon James FD – JaguarShoes Collective The ATM will be operated by Futurecoins, a London based start up.

Vasa Peric, Director of Futurecoins says: “We believe that installing this machine will help to secure the UK’s future in this global financial movement.Bitcoins are here to stay.The sooner we adapt the better.” Bitcoin has been causing a stir within mainstream media in the past weeks, following the arrest of the operators of two exchanges on charges of money laundering and following rumours that HMRC may adjust their position on the current status of the currency into line with the VAT treatment for normal currencies. According to the Financial Times, HMRC is considering a similar approach to Germany, where it has been classified as ‘private’ money.This would limit VAT on transactions to only the commission charged by trading exchanges.‘You can purchase anything; Art, retail product, coffee or a beer, its quick and easy’.Nick Letchford, praised the currencies merits on BBC London News in January.Bitcoin transactions are currently accepted across all our venues, including a fashion store, Old Shoreditch Shop, fine art gallery Seventeen and quintessential Shoreditch bar and exhibition space DreamBagsJaguarShoes.

For further information or high res.If you've watched our video from today, you've caught a glimpse of the saga that was our attempt to buy and then subsequently sell a Bitcoin at SXSW.In retrospect, it wasn't a very bright idea.But we were curious, not only of the prospect of using cyptocurrency as a fungible good for making purchases, but also of the promised ability to turn Bitcoin into real cash dollars.gia dong bitcoinBoth of those goals were theoretically possible in that week in Austin, which had hosted a recent Texas Bitcoin Conference--spurring several local businesses (read: food trucks) to start accepting Bitcoin as a novel marketing tactic.bitcoin bomb threatAustin was also home to one of the first Bitcoin ATM operators in the nation, with no fewer than three places in the city to make automated in-person transactions.ethereum arm

Yes, here was a machine that promised not only to slurp up your dollars to transfer fractions of Bitcoin to your digital wallet, but also let you cash out of virtual currency for Uncle Sam-backed bills.Oh, if only it was that easy.Something we didn't really explain in the video (because we frankly still don't completely understand it ourselves) is how the Bitcoin ATM system worked.bitcoin cleThe ATMs are built by a company called Robocoin, a Las Vegas-based started founded by two brothers who were previously making Bitcoin-for-cash transactions locally, in person.bitcoin essentials pdfAccording to a Wired report, Mark and John Russell, wanted to find a way to automate the process using a machine, while still working within the still-evolving regulatory guidelines set by US government for Bitcoin transactions.ethereum hashrate calculator

Naturally, they teamed up with a Nevada slot machine maker to start making prototypes.Honestly, the warning signs were all there.Because of those tricky (and still muddy) regulatory requirements, Robocoin doesn't actually run its kiosks.They just make them and sell them to operators for $20,000 a pop.Their first customers set up shop in Canada, where Bitcoin trading regulations are more lax--the machine doesn't need identification verification to take or dispense cash.bitcoin 900 usdAustin-based Bitcoin Agents was the first operator to install Robocoin machines in the states (a Hacker Dojo in Mountain View wasn't far behind), putting machines in three locations timed to open with the Texas Bitcoin Conference and SXSW.cheap rdp bitcoinHandlebar was where we ended up buying our Bitcoin, and where I spent the next few days hanging out to try to get it give our money back.I still have that .97 Bitcoin in my digital wallet.Buying the Bitcoin from the Robocoin ATM was at least a straightforward process.bitcoin lagos

It happened like you saw in the video--I had to create an account with the Bitcoin Agents through the Robocoin machine, giving it my telephone number (for SMS verification), creating a PIN, scanning my palm, letting it take my photo, and then also scan a copy of my driver's license.That's a whole lot of personal information, which in retrospect was pretty stupid of me.Bitcoin Agents holds on to that identification data to comply with government anti-money laundering laws, but there's no promise that they can't be hacked or won't use that information for suspect ventures in the future.Anecdotally, my identity hasn't be stolen yet, but I have received on average one strange telemarketing call a week since signing up for Robocoin--the first of which was from an adult chat service just hours after giving the Robocoin machine my phone number.There's also the matter of the transaction fee, which for one Bitcoin (~$617 at time of purchase) was $38, or over 6%.Robocoin operators make money from these fees, which they charge for both buying and selling of Bitcoins.

These fees are just one of the sources of controversy regarding Bitcoin ATMs; in Vancouver, the Robocoin operator had to hire a part-time chaperone to watch over the kiosk and prevent other traders from intercepting customers with the promise of lower-cost or free transactions.The biggest hassle was in trying to get our money out from the Robocoin machine, selling the Bitcoin back to Bitcoin Agents.The process here was incredibly convoluted and opaque.After logging back into the machine with my phone number, PIN, and palmprint, the kiosk spit out a receipt with a QR code representing the wallet address of Bitcoin Agents.The idea was that I would use my wallet to send the Bitcoin value to the operator, with the promise that after receipt, the machine would dispense the equivalent in cash--minus the transaction fee.My mistake was in not paying a "miner's fee" after sending the Bitcoin to the operator.This was a step that wasn't made clear in the selling process, neither by the Robocoin machine or my Blockchain app.

The way I understand it now, transactions have to be confirmed by the Bitcoin network, with the data of that transaction being attached to new blocks of data that's generated by the mining process.The data blocks keep a permanent record of all the transactions taking place in the network, but miners don't have to include your transactions in newly mined blocks.That's why the miner fee exists--it's a small fraction of a Bitcoin to incentivize miners to attach your transaction to their blockchains and therefore validate it.Merchants and operators typically require the arbitrary number of six confirmations before considering the transaction legit.And the typical transaction fee--0.0001 BTC--was not made clear when I sent the Bitcoin to Bitcoin Agents.So instead of the transaction being confirmed in the 15-minute average it usually takes, our Bitcoin was lost in limbo for over a day.I sent a support email to Bitcoin Agents, and received a text message the next day (they matched my name to my phone number, I assume) from Mike Piri, the owner of the Austin Robocoin machines explaining the situation.