Tested. com: Where We Went Wrong Buying Bitcoin from An ATM
Where We Went Wrong Buying Bitcoin from An ATMBitjuice Editor’s Note: Bitcoin noobs Will and Norm from Tested. com brought along a camera crew to document their ATM bitcoin purchase and use experience during the recent SXSW. It wasn’t pretty. Will and Norm of Tested. com give a blow-by-blow of their frustrating Bitcoin experience, revealing that ATMs charge somewhere over 6% transaction fee to exchange fiat to bitcoin. They then struggled to find vendors to accept bitcoin. Also, during the two days they held the bitcoin, there was a dramatic drop in value so experienced that in addition to a 6% cashout transaction fee as well. What wasn’t explained was that they needed to pay an additional “optional” miner’s fee in order to guarantee the transfer back to Robocoin would be entered into the blockchain. So, after more than a 24 hour wait after transferring their bitcoin back to Robocoin, they still weren’t able to get their cash back. Obviously bitcoin isn’t designed for this kind of casual use, but to foster wider adoption, there will need to be some changes. Watch VideoA couple of things are apparent. First, Bitcoin ATM owners/processors need to dial down the greed a little and educate consumers better, so that first time experimenters have a positive experience. Second, they should provide a printout of local establishments that accept bitcoin as a convenience and customer service. Unfortunately, the negative PR reach of this article and video may be significant on the very people who could be earlier adopters.
