'Big Four' accounting firm Deloitte is now the owner and operator of its first bitcoin ATM.After a quiet unveiling yesterday in the downtown Toronto offices of Deloitte's Rubix blockchain division, the bitcoin transaction machine, or BTM, is now ready to exchange digital currency for Canadia dollars.The move by Deloitte to host a bitcoin ATM is being positioned by the founder of Rubix as a way for the company to teach its employees and others in the area about blockchain by going back to its roots.Now the strategy leader of Rubix by Deloitte, Iliana Oris Valiente, told CoinDesk: "We see this as being an important milestone for us as an organization.It's a move to improve accessibility and hands-on learning as first step toward greater blockchain adoption."The BTM was manufactured by Bitaccess, an Ottawa-based company, and it can accept up to 1,000 bills in multiple currencies.Rubix by Deloitte is the accounting firm’s blockchain technology offering based in Canada, which works exclusively on enterprise blockchain applications with clients around the world.

But the symbolic power of the "Big Four" accounting firm partnering with Bitaccess isn’t lost on the bitcoin company’s founder, suggesting the devices may have a second life as educational tools and resources.Bitaccess co-founder Moe Adham said in a statement: "It further advances our mission to commercialize blockchain technologies."bitcoin escrow explainedIliana Oris Valiente with Deloitte bitcoin ATM via Deloitte The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.ethereum chain idWhile Deloitte has long been an advisor on blockchain and cryptocurrencies, it took a step toward to practicing what it preaches earlier this month.bitcoin mining x86

After installing a bitcoin ATM in its Toronto office last fall, the consulting giant is now accepting bitcoin payments at a restaurant in its office complex – providing a hands-on opportunity for patrons to experience bitcoin.Iliana Oris Valiente, strategy leader at Rubix by Deloitte, explained that such first-hand experiences are instrumental toward educating people about the greater potential underlying blockchain technology.listen-to-bitcoin-miningDespite her firm's focus on distributed ledger applications, she said that understanding the technology in any of its many variations often starts with a walk through its historical origins.bitcoin thief caught"What we've consistently realized is that when we’re starting to educate our clients, that journey typically starts with understanding bitcoin."bitcoin faucet indonesia

"It's very difficult to skip over that part of the historic line and say, 'Oh by the way, now we’re going to talk to you about this really complicated distributed ledger technology'," she continued.With the bitcoin ATM becoming more popular with clients and employees, Oris Valiente said it was logical for her firm to look for other ways to expand on its support for the digital currency."But the question we often received was, 'So, where do I use the bitcoins that I've acquired?'" she said, adding: "The answer is usually online merchants, but there aren't as many brick-and-mortar venues.That's when the idea came up: 'What about our bistro downstairs?'" With this lightbulb lit, Deloitte teamed up with Benchmark Hospitality (which operates Bistro 1858 inside Deloitte’s Toronto complex) and bitcoin processor BitPay to kick off the concept.The idea was that users could download a wallet, purchase bitcoin from the ATM and then buy a meal from the bistro – with the end result being that they could see the changes to their balance reflected immediately.

Benchmark initially viewed the opportunity as a chance to cut costs and test out a new technology, but the appeal has expanded much more widely."We've had a positive reaction from the bistro staff," said Oris Valiente."They've just said: 'This is flat out cool.'"For Deloitte, the initiative has served as a means to inform even more people about bitcoin and blockchain, while generating more organic interest in the subject internally."We have a lot of our internal employees who are excited to get their first bitcoin wallet, buy their first fraction of a bitcoin and perhaps invite their clients in and have a conversation about what this technology means," she said.But Deloitte is quick to concede that rolling out such an endeavor – as straightforward as it may seem – is far from an easy task.There were a plethora of financial and technological hurdles to overcome.These included determining how Bistro 1858 would handle end-of-shift reconciliations, calculating the implementation costs and deciding which payment provider would be the best fit.

At the end of the day, Oris Valiente explained that introducing the new payments system was ultimately a change management exercise.While simple in aim, it involved retraining management and front-line staff, along with communicating to all stakeholders why the exercise was being undertaken in the first place."I think those conversations, and trying to understand what motivates all of the parties and how we address all of their needs, that was probably the most time-consuming aspect," she said.However, she argued that the exercise has been useful in helping to explain that blockchain solutions are similar to other types of enterprise applications: While the nuts and bolts get fundamentally reworked, the experience for the end-user oftentimes remains unchanged."The user experience is pretty straightforward; what's changed is the complex back-end.That story is actually in parallel to what we often see when we develop enterprise applications," she said.Oris Valiente also emphasized that the exercise has been instrumental in helping to facilitate the flow of creative juices internally.