ATMs Are Becoming Crypto

For years, the ATM performed only one function: dispensing cash. Today, this logic is changing — and Argentina has found itself at the center of this transformation.

RedATM is an Argentine network with more than 250 ATMs in 22 provinces, located in supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations, and shopping centers. This is no longer just a machine for dispensing cash — it is fintech infrastructure. With functions such as withdrawing funds via QR code from any digital wallet, withdrawals through Pix for tourists and the Brazilian community, as well as topping up services with cash, RedATM embodies the direction in which the industry is moving: ATMs that connect the digital world with the physical one.

And integration with cryptocurrencies is the next logical step.

From Bitcoin to banknote: a global trend

Almost 39,000 crypto ATMs operate worldwide. The United States dominates the market with more than 30,000 units — 77% of the global total — followed by Canada and Europe. These devices allow users to convert cryptocurrency into local cash or buy crypto with banknotes — without a bank account or an online exchange.

The presence of these ATMs in public places builds familiarity and trust in cryptocurrencies, encouraging their spread among both private individuals and businesses. These are not just technical tools — they are points of contact that normalize the digital in everyday life

Argentina: fertile ground

In Argentina, more than 4 million people regularly buy cryptocurrencies. This is no coincidence: chronic inflation and the search for alternatives to the peso have brought the country to a leading position in crypto adoption in Latin America.

Companies such as Spain’s BitBase have already opened their first crypto ATM in Buenos Aires — at Avenida Callao 1938, in Recoleta — and announced the expansion of the network with buying and selling functionality in 2025. The model is simple: the user registers, approaches the ATM, and converts crypto into pesos or vice versa — in cash, without digital intermediaries.

ATMs with buying and selling functionality generate more sales than purchases, and working with cash is a real advantage for those who need it. In a country where a significant part of the economy still functions in cash format, this is by no means a minor detail.

Why is this important for infrastructure like RedATM?

RedATM has already proven its ability to build a national-scale network and place terminals where people really are. The integration of crypto functions — withdrawing stablecoins such as USDT, converting into pesos, or even settling international transfers — is a natural continuation of what they are already doing.

As one industry executive noted: “We are the last mile of a much more ambitious system. The new crypto-payment and financial infrastructure of the world on blockchain finds in the ATM a way to reach the ground.”

This is exactly what is happening. The ATM is ceasing to be a banking terminal and is turning into a universal point of financial access: digital wallet, crypto, Pix, QR, cash. All in one device — in the supermarket around the corner.

 

                    The question is no longer whether ATMs will integrate crypto. The question is who will do it                                                                                             first — and who will be left behind.

 

                                Want to know how stablecoins and crypto infrastructure are transforming payments                                                                                                                        in Latin America?

 

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