Walmart Inc, an American retail giant, has deployed its pilot of Bitcoin (BTC) ATM machines in 200 of its stores across the United States powered by Coinstar. According to Reuters, the Bitcoin ATM provider partnered with CoinMe, a crypto exchange, to enable customers to buy BTC at some of its stores.
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed that 200 Coinstar kiosks are now working and located inside Walmart stores to serve the general public who want to buy Bitcoin. “Bitcoin ATMs have been around for a while, including in many supermarkets. Walmart expands Bitcoin access to more people, though, and gives it further legitimacy among skeptics, should they roll it out beyond an initial pilot,” Sam Doctor, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Research at BitOoda, told BNN Bloomberg.
To use the machines, people should insert paper bills, and then they get a voucher. Moreover, users should sign up for an account at Coinme to pass a background check in order to redeem the voucher.
The retail giant had been hinting at the crypto waters in the last few months. In August, it posted a job ad where they were seeking an expert to develop ‘the digital currency strategy and product roadmap’ to identify crypto-related investment and partnerships. “It is an expensive way to buy Bitcoin, but lowers the barriers to entry for first-time buyers of crypto,” Doctor added.
Litecoin Payments Fake News
The announcement came over one month after Walmart was a victim of crypto-related fake news. A fake press release said that the retail giant announced that it would start accepting Litecoin (LTC) payments fuelled the crypto’s price by 35%. However, after Walmart denied this news released through a telecom company, Intrado, LTC’s price plummeted 20%.
The press release noted that the retail giant had inked a partnership with Litecoin Foundation to accept payments with Litecoin.
