Open Bitcoin ATM


If there’s one thing Bitcoins can benefit from, it’s easier accessibility for first-time users. The process can be a bit daunting if you’re new to cryptocurrency, but [mayosmith] is developing an open Bitcoin ATM to help get coins in the hands of the masses. There are already some Bitcoin dispensers out there. The Lamassu is around 5k a pop, and then there’s always the option of low-tech Condom Vending Machine conversions.

[mayosmith’s] build is still in the proof-of-concept phase, but has some powerful functionality underway. The box is made from acrylic with a front plate of 12″x12″ aluminum sheet metal, held on by 2 aluminum angles and some bolts. Slots were carved out of the aluminum sheet for the thermal printer and for bill acceptor—the comments identify it as an Apex 7000. Inside is an Arduino with an SD Shield attached. Dollars inserted into the acceptor trigger the Arduino to spit out a previously-generated QR code for some coins via the thermal printer, though all values are pre-determined at the time of creation and stored sequentially on the SD card. Stick around for a quick video below, and check out the official page for more information:

29 thoughts on “Open Bitcoin ATM

  1. I am SURE this is a repost, but i can’t find the old project :S That, or a serious case of deja-vue. Anyway; Recently got into cryptocurrency via Dogecoin. Why? Because it was easy, fun and the community is entertaining. I thought it would be a nice way to try out cryptocoins before hitting the “real deal”. That said, afaik, dogecoins are the fifth largest by now. So shibe, much coin. Even made myself a dogecollar (wallet):

  2. I think for enhanced security this would be better with a bank card instead of cash. That way, if the machine gets stolen it’s no big deal (as long as the bitcoins are stored off-site)

      1. You clearly havent been paying attention to what a joke Mt. Gox has become, or how the price was pumped to over $1k and now has been dumped to now under $100. Or how small and illiquid the market is, and the massive spreads. But keep on pretending all the money you dumped in to buttcoins are actually worth something.

        1. Don’t make assumptions unless you have just a tiny clue that what you say is true. First, I did not dump any currency into BitCoin, not crypto, not “real”.

          Any item that is for sale, unregulated by anything but supply and demand WILL be volatile. Assuming anything else is foolish. Think of it as stocks. The whole point of this is to decentralize the money from any regulating institution. Now if you have any qualms with the volatility then sure. It should stabilize in time, but since BitCoing still is a new concept, well cryptocurrencies in general, and will be until generally understood and marketed.

    1. Mt Gox is having problems, no one can withdraw their coins from Mt gox and it’s been going on for too long now. People are losing confidence in Mt Gox so Mt Gox’s rates are plumeting. Check other exchanges, you will see they have also taken a hit, probably partly due to Mt Gox and partly due to Russia’s anouncement against Bitcoin. Still, they are no where near as far down as Mt. Gox. Bitcoin seems to be surviving this one. Mt. Gox… not so much.

    1. First off, this thing is an open-source proof-of-concept; it’s meant as a means to demonstrate how to build such an ATM, and open-source to get it in the hands of others who may want to do so.

      As such a learning tool, it isn’t meant to be a totally secure system; clearly the fact that it is composed of fairly insecure materials, and keeps the QR codes on an SD card shows that much. This isn’t a machine meant to be placed in an area where it is likely to be stolen or broke into, obviously.

      Also – just because it uses an Arduino, doesn’t make it insecure by default; the code is out there, I looked at it, and other than being fairly simple in execution, it didn’t look like something that would randomly fail (it really wasn’t doing much, just setting up the printer and bill scanner, waiting for a dollar to be inserted, then printing a QR code from the SD card and incrementing a counter – more or less).

      Could it be made more secure? Of course it could – external QR codes retrieved from a server would be one great upgrade, a more secure “vault” made out of welded steel and some kind of electronic lock or something would be another.

      But that isn’t the point here – the point is learning, and showing people a base project that they can build and expand from. This project does that job. If you think there are flaws in the design, then follow the links, take the design, and improve on it! It’s all open source – all the code, all the electronics, all the construction bits. Fix what you see is wrong with it, and make it better (hell, if you think the Arduino is insecure, then stick your own microcontroller or other processor in, if it makes you feel better!)…

  3. This reminds me of another hack that was on here a while ago. It involved making a trading post that would trade peanuts to crows who brought it change they find on the street. At least the birds got a snack out of it though.

  4. Help me out here. So, I can take my money, which I can exchange most everywhere for goods and services, and exchange it for bitcoins which I can exchange in very few places for goods and services, because…….? what am I missing?

    1. Well, when you’re buying porn or drugs or other illicit services, you don’t want to use cash, so you turn your cash into bitcoins, then spend the bitcoins on things you don’t want your name associated with. Bitcoins add a layer of anonymous to the financial transactions – and for that, you pay the middleman in having no clue what your artificial money will be worth at any given point in time.

      I find it hugely ironic that people bitch about Paypal “pretending” to be a bank, yet find Bitcoin, which is pretending to be real money, gets a pass. At least with Paypal, a dollar in paypal is and always will be worth a dollar, while a bitcoin it can be a dollar today, two dollars tomorrow, and absolutely nothing at any moment.

    2. Money, because your bank took a fee when you exchanged it. Really cryptocoins and “real” money are the same. The difference is that the cryptocoins are not centralized in banks and nation states and are thus regulated only by supply and demand.

  5. who grantees that the wallet it is giving you even exist? and that nobody else will hold the key (the owner surely knows it otherwise he could not give it to you)

    if you think this can give out COINS and not wallets, while not being connected to the internet and processing the blockchain to assure the transfer happened, is just crazy. But well, most people who drink *coin coolaid is crazy.

  6. Observe how there isn’t a single project where you scan a bar coded ticket, enter an email address or whatever and you get dollar bills dispensed out? Its slwasys the other way around. LOL

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