Botswana's only BATM (Bitcoin Automated Teller Machine) has become functional.
With the installation of a BATM in capital Gaborone, the total number of such automated teller machines in Africa has risen to 10.
Startup company Express Minds Limited erected the BATM at the center of a prominent mall in Gaborone to incentivize the uptake of cryptocurrency.
The BATM has the capacity to process a daily transaction volume of up to $5,000, according to Express Minds director Brose Watlala.
The fiat-to-crypto machine allows users to purchase bitcoin by scanning a QR code for their wallet address, feed money into the machine and get the crypto equivalent automatically assigned to their wallets.
Digital token is not yet popular in the diamond-rich nation, which does not have a cryptocurrency exchange.
The number of Bitcoin ATM machines (BATM) installed across the world has crossed the 4,000 threshold, according to Coinatmradar.com.
There were only less than 2000 Bitcoin ATMs in the world in 2017. However, their number more than doubled in two years.The highest increase was recorded in the United States.
Bitcoin ATMs are installed in 75 countries in the world. Two thirds of them are concentrated in North America. Out of a total of 4,159 BATMs worldwide, 2493 - or 55.9 percent - are in the United States, and 613 in Canada.
The majority of the world's machines are one-way devices - meaning they can only be used to buy cryptocurrencies, though markets seem to be seeking machines that allow users to sell.
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