Post by niseag on Oct 19, 2015 1:14:12 GMT 4
here is an experience from a crypto ATM user
So I discovered that there was a bitcoin ATM located a fair distance away from where I live (about 40 min or so) and decided to try it out and sell some BTC for USD. I'm a fairly experienced bitcoin user of about two years now so I think it's safe to say I know what I am doing. Despite this experience though, I still had issues with the ATM.
After confirming my identity through a phone verification it asked me how much I wanted to sell. At a fee of 13% I decided to sell about $150 in BTC. They provide their wallet QR code and I scan it. The whole process took about 5 minutes which I believe is a normal amount of time for a fiat ATM as well. The machine provided me with a receipt that had my transaction info on it and a redemption code with which I could redeem for my USD. However, I didn't consider that the transaction needed to be confirmed. I realized this and still wasn't upset by the experience at all so left and came back after the transaction had been confirmed.
Even after it was confirmed I still couldn't withdraw my money though. Despite that it was, the machine believed that it hadn't yet been confirmed even though it had been about 15 min and both my wallet and blockchain.info verified it was confirmed. I was annoyed at this point but chalked it up to the machine requiring a certain amount of confirmations before it could release the USD. So, I ended up leaving and coming back a few hours later when it had well over 50 confirmations. It still didn't release the money insisting that it wasn't confirmed yet. I've gone ahead and emailed the owner of the ATM already to get back my BTC, but I just wanted to share my experience with you all.
If we want bitcoin ATM's to become mainstream, we need to work out the issues with them. If I were a first time user of bitcoin I would be completely turned off to it after this experience. In my opinion this includes reducing the confirmation time. mentioning somewhere on the ATM how many confirmations are required so the user can estimate his/her wait, providing reasonable fees (imagine having a 13% fee when exchanging USD for EURO), assuring there are no bugs with the ATM, and providing a more secure way to access the ATM later. Seriously, with the receipt I had anyone could have just taken it from me and I'd be out around $150.
Tl;Dr - Had issues with BTC ATM. Emailed ATM owner. Some things to help BTC ATM's go mainstream are reducing the confirmation time. mentioning somewhere on the ATM how many confirmations are required so the user can estimate his/her wait, providing reasonable fees, assuring there are no bugs with the ATM, and providing a more secure way to access the ATM later.
source: www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3p7uwt/first_experience_with_bitcoin_atm/
So I discovered that there was a bitcoin ATM located a fair distance away from where I live (about 40 min or so) and decided to try it out and sell some BTC for USD. I'm a fairly experienced bitcoin user of about two years now so I think it's safe to say I know what I am doing. Despite this experience though, I still had issues with the ATM.
After confirming my identity through a phone verification it asked me how much I wanted to sell. At a fee of 13% I decided to sell about $150 in BTC. They provide their wallet QR code and I scan it. The whole process took about 5 minutes which I believe is a normal amount of time for a fiat ATM as well. The machine provided me with a receipt that had my transaction info on it and a redemption code with which I could redeem for my USD. However, I didn't consider that the transaction needed to be confirmed. I realized this and still wasn't upset by the experience at all so left and came back after the transaction had been confirmed.
Even after it was confirmed I still couldn't withdraw my money though. Despite that it was, the machine believed that it hadn't yet been confirmed even though it had been about 15 min and both my wallet and blockchain.info verified it was confirmed. I was annoyed at this point but chalked it up to the machine requiring a certain amount of confirmations before it could release the USD. So, I ended up leaving and coming back a few hours later when it had well over 50 confirmations. It still didn't release the money insisting that it wasn't confirmed yet. I've gone ahead and emailed the owner of the ATM already to get back my BTC, but I just wanted to share my experience with you all.
If we want bitcoin ATM's to become mainstream, we need to work out the issues with them. If I were a first time user of bitcoin I would be completely turned off to it after this experience. In my opinion this includes reducing the confirmation time. mentioning somewhere on the ATM how many confirmations are required so the user can estimate his/her wait, providing reasonable fees (imagine having a 13% fee when exchanging USD for EURO), assuring there are no bugs with the ATM, and providing a more secure way to access the ATM later. Seriously, with the receipt I had anyone could have just taken it from me and I'd be out around $150.
Tl;Dr - Had issues with BTC ATM. Emailed ATM owner. Some things to help BTC ATM's go mainstream are reducing the confirmation time. mentioning somewhere on the ATM how many confirmations are required so the user can estimate his/her wait, providing reasonable fees, assuring there are no bugs with the ATM, and providing a more secure way to access the ATM later.
source: www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3p7uwt/first_experience_with_bitcoin_atm/