ATMs Will Be Installed In Argentina To Withdraw Cryptocurrencies And To Use The Volatility Of The Peso

Argentina can get up to 30 crypto ATMs (ATM) that buy and sell bitcoin.

Athena Bitcoin, an American company that specializes on cryptocurrency ATMs, has launched the first bitcoin ATM in Argentina last month in a shopping center of Buenos Aires, said a company spokesman to Reuters.

Another company based in the US, the Odyssey Group, has announced 150 ATMs it intends to install by the end of the year in Argentina, 80 percent of which will be operating in bitcoins during the first months of 2019. Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies not supported by any Central Bank or asset, and bitcoin is the largest and best known in the world.

Athena Bitcoin already has 12 ATMs in Colombia, and the Argentine financial crisis, with inflation expected to exceed 40 percent by the end of the year, presented an opportunity for growth in the cryptocurrency market. The peso lost more than 50 percent of its value against the dollar in 2018.

Unlike Athena Bitcoin machines, which allow customers to buy and sell only digital currencies, Odyssey group ATMs will be able to perform traditional banking operations, including depositing and withdrawing cash and transferring money between accounts.

Both Athena Bitcoin and Odyssey Group said they also have ambitions to expand into other Latin American countries.