VANCOUVER (Reuters) - A silver and blue ATM, perched up next to the espresso bar in a trendy Vancouver coffee shop, could launch a new era for the digital currency bitcoin, offering an almost instant way to exchange the world's leading virtual money for cash.The value of a bitcoin soared from $13 in January to a high of $266 in April as more businesses and consumers used them to buy and sell online.Some investors are also treating bitcoins like gold, using them to hedge against currency fluctuations and speculating on their rise.The kiosk, which looks like the average ATM but with hand and barcode scanners, opened for business on Tuesday and by mid-morning people were lined up to swap their bitcoins for cash, or to deposit cash to buy more bitcoins."It's as easy as walking up to a machine, scanning your hand, entering some cash and buying bitcoin," said Jordan Kelley, chief executive of Las Vegas-based Robocoin, the company that builds the ATMs."With this, it's a 2-minute process.For any online exchange, it's at least two days."

Bitcoins, currently worth about $210 each, can be transferred without going through banks or clearing houses, thereby cutting fees.Users can buy products and services online or in a handful of stores, including the Waves coffee shop where the ATM is.With the bitcoin ATM, users scan their hand to confirm identity, then funds move to or from a virtual wallet on their smartphone.bitcoin currency in hindiThe system limits transfers to $1,000 a day, in an effort to curb money laundering and other fraud.bitcoin aliens hackBitcoiniacs, the local dealer that operates the ATM, will roll out four other kiosks across Canada in December.bitcoin market independent reserveRobocoin said Canada was the ideal place to launch the kiosk due to a critical mass of users and less stringent oversight than in the United States, where the bitcoin trade is monitored by anti-money laundering regulators.bitcoin private key leak

"We think the Vancouver market is enormous and we're excited to be here," said Kelley."By the end 2013, we'll be all over Canada.By the end of 2014, we'll be all over the world, including the United States."Bitcoin is not a recognized currency in Canada, so Ottawa's anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, does not monitor its trade.bitcoin wooden walletStill Bitcoiniacs' founders say they are working with the agency to be ready for when Canada does start regulating them.bitcoin exchange toronto"We're already being proactive in our business," said Bitcoiniacs co-founder Mitchell Demeter.why bitcoin will fail reddit"We abide by any guidelines they would impose - which includes the 'know you customer' laws and anti-money laundering laws."bitcoin mining vga card

Going mainstreamBitcoins were launched in 2008 and are traded within a global network of computers.They are not backed by a single company or government, but their release is tightly controlled, mimicking a central banking system's control over the minting of money.Bitcoins can be bought with near anonymity, which supporters say lowers fraud risk and increases privacy.bitcoin sek chartBut critics say that also makes bitcoins a magnet for drug transactions, money-laundering and other illegal activities.The currency's reputation took a hit this month, when U.S.regulators shut down Silk Road, an online marketplace used to buy and sell illegal drugs, and seized $3.6 million in bitcoins.But the virtual currency is gaining hold among businesses and consumers, a key step to a bigger role."I think it's definitely going mainstream," said Demeter."I think as things progress, and the infrastructure is built, it will become easier for people to buy and sell, and so more people will start using it."

In Vancouver, for example, dozens of people attend weekly bitcoin meet-ups and a member co-op is promoting the currency to a growing list of local retailers.At Waves, Vancouver resident Chung Cheong used bitcoin to pay for his mug of tea and was happy to mull over the future of the digital currency."It's been said that we're at the stage where email was in 1992," he said.But look at how the Internet and email changed the world."(Additional reporting by Louise Egan in Ottawa; Editing by Richard Chang)Meeting someone in person to purchase bitcoins is a plausible option for some — but if you are not well versed with the ins and outs of Bitcoin, someone could exploit that by charging you an obscene markup, or by scamming you altogether.This is, of course, assuming worst case scenario.And we recognize that the platforms that facilitate in-person transactions have many legitimate users.But we’ve also heard the horror stories — so why potentially subject yourself to that with your first purchase?Oftentimes, the quickest, most convenient option is purchasing through Bitcoin ATMs.

Although sometimes at a higher rate than online exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs give users immediate access to Bitcoin.In comparison to broker purchases, Bitcoin ATMs almost always have a better rate.Bitcoin ATMs serve an important purpose by allowing those who don’t have bank accounts, debit or credit cards to purchase bitcoins.Without Bitcoin ATMs, introducing the unbanked and underbanked to e-commerce via Bitcoin would be much harder — while some platforms address this market, Bitcoin ATMs offer a more familiar experience that doesn’t require coordinating with and trusting another person.For the purpose of this article, we’ll walk you through a typical Bitcoin purchase at an ATM:1) Customer initiates transaction by submitting the phone number of the device that they are using at the ATM2) Customer receives SMS code which he/she enters for verification purposes3) Customer then chooses to either: a. Create a new wallet (paper wallet)  b. Scan QR Code (from your mobile wallet) c. Enter Address Manually (we caution against this — one wrong letter, number or capitalization and you may have effectively donated your bitcoin purchase to some unknown user)4) Customer inserts cash into machine (as much as they would like to purchase, BTC to USD exchange rate is shown on screen)5) Complete transaction.

Bitcoins are available for customer to spend typically in 10 minutes or less.A simplified graphic of how a purchase at a Bitcoin ATM worksChoosing how you receive the bitcoins you purchased (Step # 3) is very important, especially for new users.Having the Bitcoin ATM create a new wallet (a “paper wallet”) can often make using Bitcoin more convoluted than it needs to be.We’ve seen some unfortunate situations where customers didn’t understand what the paper wallet was, threw it away, and lost their money — a poor first impression of Bitcoin.We have gone to great lengths to inform customers that if you do create a paper wallet, you must safeguard it.For example, if one were to lose their paper wallet that is storing $20 worth of bitcoin, it is basically the same as dropping a $20 bill on the street — if the owner can’t find it, there is no recourse because we cannot recover the funds remotely.For these reasons, we always encourage new users to set up a Bitcoin wallet before making their first purchase and oftentimes walk them through the entire process — a process to be explained in the next section.Figure A — Paper WalletSetting Up a WalletIn this section we’ll explain how to set up a Bitcoin wallet on iOS and Android devices.

Again we would like to stress the importance of this step, as it makes Bitcoin purchases much easier — not to mention the fact that having a mobile wallet makes Bitcoin easier to use in virtually every sense.There are tons of options for Bitcoin wallets, but for the purpose of conciseness we will take a look at Breadwallet for iOS and Mycelium for Android (throughout our time operating we’ve fielded hundreds, if not thousands of calls relating to wallet issues and these two wallets consistently receive positive customer feedback.)Let’s start with Breadwallet for iOS devices.After successfully installing the app, open it and you should be given the option to either “Create a New Wallet” or “Restore Wallet From Backup” — you want to choose the first option “Create a New Wallet.” Immediately the app should prompt you to “Backup Your Wallet” — you will be given 12 unique words that you should write down on a piece of paper and store securely — this is a basic security measure that ensures you can recover your bitcoins if you lose your phone.For example, if I had $100 in Breadwallet on my iPhone and dropped it in the ocean, it would be okay (assuming I did a backup.)

In this scenario I would replace my iPhone, download Breadwallet again, and restore my wallet from backup by entering the 12 unique words that I was given when I initially created the wallet.After creating the backup, your wallet is ready to use and you should see something like this:Figure B(left) — Figure C(right)The phone on the left (Figure B) shows your home screen, where you have the option to send money either by scanning someone’s QR code, or by copying a bitcoin address (i.e.from a website or from a text message sent by a friend) and subsequently paying from the clipboard.If you currently have a bitcoin balance, it will be displayed at the top of the screen.If you swipe to the second screen (Figure C) you should see what the second phone is displaying, which is your Bitcoin address as a QR Code along with the corresponding alphanumeric code below.In terms of a purchase at a Bitcoin ATM this is the screen that should be showing in order to use the suggested option we’re referring to in Step 3 from the previous section.