Jorge Flores installed a bitcoin ATM inside Cassava Bread on Saturday.LAKEVIEW — The city's first bitcoin ATM debuted in Lakeview over the weekend at Cassava Bread.Bitcoin is a type of currency and online payment system that's been around since 2009.People and businesses can make transactions directly to one another — meaning no bank or credit card fees."Itdoesn't really cost anything.In fact, it's cheaper than most credit cards," said Jorge Flores, who owns Cassava Bread at 3338 N. Clark St.Flores said his gluten-free cafe has been accepting bitcoin for about four months.It makes up 1-2 percent of his revenue."That'smore than we take in Discover Card," Flores said, "and that's a national credit card."So when Midwest Bitcoin — an Indiana-based company that designs bitcoin ATMs — offered to install one at Cassava free-of-charge, Flores jumped at the chance."It'smutually beneficial for us because he's in a great location in Chicago," said Rod Baradaran, Midwest Bitcoin's chief operating officer.Customers who use the ATM are charged a 5-percent fee, Baradaran said.

That covers any exchange fees incurred by Midwest Bitcoin, and helps the company turn a profit.The benefit to paying the fee, Baradaran said, is that customers can convert cash to bitcoins — or vice versa — in as little as 60 seconds.Online transactions are free, but could take several days."It'sjust a lot more convenient," Baradaran said.Flores called accepting bitcoin a smart business move because it's drawn new crowds to his cafe., Cassava is one of about 40 Chicago-area businesses that take the currency.Baradaran said the cafe's bitcoin ATM is the first to debut in Chicago.Midwest Bitcoin hopes to install 15 more of its machines throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast in coming months.But because so few businesses take the currency, it's been tough to find homes for the machines.Baradaran said bitcoin ATMs exist in a "legal gray area."Accordingto Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, state regulations haven't caught up with bitcoin technology."It's

something we've been looking at," Hofer said in a December interview."Our transmission of money and our ATM laws are both in need of some review as technologies change.And depending on how [the machines are set] up, it could be an ATM, it could be a currency exchange matter, and none of those laws were written in the 21st century."bitcoin miner for vpsAs for bitcoin-related state policy as a whole, Hofer said it is "on our radar, but we do not have new regulations about how it could work in Illinois."Peoplebitcoin-qt on tailscan access the Chicago ATM inside Cassava Bread from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.litecoin conversion to dollarsweekdays and 10 a.m.-7 p.m.dogecoin server

Saturdays and Sundays.For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:Third Bitcoin ATM Comes to SF’s Mission Bitcoin, a digital “cryptocurrency,” is now being dispensed at a local grocery on 17th and Mission streets that installed a bitcoin ATM – the third of its kind in the Mission District, and the first to appear at a market.how to trade bitcoin on mt4“At first I thought, what the hell is this?” said the nephew of the market’s owner, who gave his name as Raj.ethereum stock coinbase“I thought it was just going to be sitting there, but I’ve actually seen a couple of transactions happen since we first got it in a few weeks ago.” ... Read More New bitcoin ATM could change the future for bitcoin ATMs In 2008, bitcoin emerged as a decentralized digital currency invented by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Since then, it's grown in value and use within the technology community.More recently, ATMs have been developed to help consumers more easily translate centralized currency, such as the U.S.dollar, into bitcoin without needing a credit card.Earlier this month, several members of TechKnow, a local technology community, built a bitcoin ATM of their own.... Read More Bitcoin: A new fixture at one Canadian university Within weeks of Nasreen Mohsin moving to Vancouver in September to start a master’s of engineering at Simon Fraser University, one of her friends back home in India had an emergency.Mohsin won’t divulge the specifics, but her friend needed 6,000 rupees, or about $120—and fast.One option was to use a traditional money-transfer service, like Western Union, but her friend recommended they make the transfer via Bitcoin.Not only would it be fast, but the fees would be next to nothing.... Read More Can ATMs move bitcoin into the mainstream?Perhaps the biggest problem with virtual currency today is not that people don't understand bitcoin technology, but rather that they don't know about bitcoin to begin with.

A poll by Goldman Sachs revealed that more than half of millennials aren't interested in virtual currency.A study by the University of Kentucky suggested that mainstream audiences aren't, either.However, in the Goldman Sachs poll, most of the millennials who had used virtual currency before said they planned to use it again — suggesting that the underlying problem is ignorance, not indifference.In order to draw in new users, the bitcoin community needs a familiar medium — such as an ATM — to provide an introduction.In fact, bitcoin ATMs have begun to explode onto the market.The first bitcoin ATM went live in October 2013, according to Coin ATM Radar.Since then, the number of installed units has steadily increased to more than 450 worldwide.... Read More Licensed bitcoin ATM opens at Staten Island Ferry The 70,000 passengers that pass through the Staten Island Ferry terminal every day now have access to a licensed bitcoin ATM, or BTM, and they won't even need a bank account to use it.

While many bitcoin companies left the city after the so-called BitLicense went into effect earlier this month, this is the first strong evidence we seen of the ecosystem returning to normal.... Read More Bitchain Brings Two Bitcoin ATM’s To Barcelona Shopping Centres Catalan-based Bitcoin company Bitchain recently installed two additional Bitcoin ATM’s in the city of Barcelona.What makes these machines so important, is that one of the ATM’s is installed in one of Barcelona’s major shopping centres, which is the first of its kind to be placed in such a high-profile location.... Read More Austin's Bitcoin ATM Operators Look Toward Currency's Future As the city prepares for the international mobs of South by Southwest, one small but growing industry is doing some last-minute tinkering.The nation’s first cash-dispensing bitcoin ATM was installed about a year ago at HandleBar on E. Fifth St., just in time for SXSW last year.But for the last few months it’s been out of service, in need of a software upgrade.

Sheldon Weisfeld, CEO and co-founder of CoinVault ATM, went in Monday to make the necessary repairs.... Read More Bitcoin ATMs: Vending Operators Could Find New Calling In Emerging Crypto Economy The lifeline for cash in an increasingly cashless world, ATMs are finding a new calling nowadays as digital currency terminals.Viewed in a historical context, ATMs could be jumping from one end of the currency spectrum (cash) to the other (cashless) as they help make digital currency available to consumers.Digital currency ATMs, while few in number, are emerging as a tool by which the nascent digital currency industry raises its visibility to the public at large.Led by bitcoin, the most pervasive digital currency, these evolving payment media, which face challenges, offer several advantages in an increasingly global economy.... Read More Universities Banking on FinTech to Make Their Graduates More Employable A Canadian university will sell books for bitcoins and has installed BTMs to get students accustomed and more involved with financial technology services (FinTech).

Simon Fraser University (SFU) in British Columbia, Canada, has announced it is to install three BTMs across its campuses, alongside accepting bitcoin payments for purchases of books and university branded equipment in their bookshops.... Read More Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Joins Next Gen Payment Startup Planet Capital As CoinTelegraph South Africa reported, Multi-function crossover ATM operator Planet Capital has announced that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is joining its board as an advisor and director.The move, which was confirmed to CoinTelegraph by CTO Dan Sokol, marks a decisive step in Wozniak’s affiliation with blockchain infrastructure.... Read More Quadriga Fintech Solutions to Launch Fleet of New BitXATMs across Canada A new fleet of BitXATM machines is set to launch across Canada in the coming months.Quadriga CX, Canada’s largest Bitcoin exchange, has big plans to install their new SumoPro two-way bitcoin ATMs in prime locations across the country.

These units will be delivered in batches of five and placed in several major cities including Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.... Read More Coin Outlet Acquires LibertyX Bitcoin ATM Network Coin Outlet Inc is taking another step towards being the biggest Bitcoin ATM network by acquiring LibertyX's (formerly Liberty Teller's) ATM network.The four LibertyX machines will be rebranded as Coin Outlet ATMs but will still remain in their existing locations.LibertyX gained fame for launching the very first Bitcoin ATM in the United States at Boston's South Station, only a year ago.LibertyX Co-Founder Chris Yim said the decision to sell the ATM arm of their company to Coin Outlet was "a natural evolution of their business and allows them to scale quickly and focus on adding partners and services to their existing 2,500 cash-to-bitcoin store locations."... Read More Rumors Swirling around Robocoin’s Hardware Exit, Major Restructure Network issues at Robocoin, which affected its BTM network yesterday, have led to rumors of more serious problems with the company, it has emerged.