Despite being the first country in the world to legalize Bitcoin, El Salvador now ranks behind Australia in crypto ATM installations. Australia has installed 219 cryptocurrency ATMs as of the start of the year 2023.
El Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele has deployed over 200 crypto ATMs in the country’s effort to make Bitcoin a legal tender. In September 2021, the Central American country surpassed the U.S. and Canada as the third-largest centre for crypto ATMs but was overtaken by Spain and Australia in early 2023.
In October 2022, Spain became the third largest hub, with 215 crypto ATMs being installed. Although other countries slowed their installation efforts, Spain has maintained its pace and has 226 crypto ATMs. El Salvador was surpassed by Australia Not long before becoming the fourth-biggest crypto ATM hub.
CoinATMRadar data reveals that Australia installed 99 crypto ATMs in the last quarter of 2022. As of January 1, 2023, Australia had 219 operational crypto ATMs.
There will be 38,602 crypto ATMs worldwide by the end of 2022, of which 6,071 were added in the single year 2022. Australia can easily surpass Asia’s 312 crypto ATMs at its current rate and become the region’s largest crypto ATM market. The country currently accounts for 0.6% of global crypto ATM installations.
Government efforts in Nigeria to mandate the use of the eNaira, the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), have resulted in a weekly limit of $225 (100,000 nairas) for cash withdrawals from ATMs.
Director of banking supervision Haruna Mustafa stated that customers should be encouraged to use non-traditional banking channels (e.g., mobile banking apps, cards/POS, USSD, eNaira, etc.) to complete their financial activities.
