In early August, Aina granted licenses to install the first cryptocurrency ATMs in three Spanish airports: Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández. Major terminals such as Barajas (Madrid) and El Prat (Barcelona) will be left for later.
The company that has received this permit is the startup Bitbase (recognized by the Bank of Spain as a provider of services for exchanging virtual currency for fiduciary currency), which assures that it will soon install ATMs. One in Ibiza and Alicante and two in Majorca.
Spain is the third country in the world to have the most cryptocurrency ATMs, after the United States and Canada, with approximately 217 units distributed across the country.
How do these ATMs work?
Digital currencies, especially bitcoin, can be purchased from cryptocurrency ATMs. Purchases can be made by cash or card up to EUR 2,500, although for purchases over EUR 995 you will need to register at a cashier.
With this concession, Bitbase reaffirms itself as the most important cryptocurrency company in Spain. Adding to the four that will soon start operating at the Spanish aerodrome, there will already be 97 cryptocurrency vending machines that the company will set up between Spain, Portugal and Paraguay.
According to the CoinATMRadar website, there are currently 38,901 cryptocurrency ATMs installed around the world. Most of these are in the US (34,210) and Canada (2,448).