Uruguay has apparently built its first Bitcoin (BTC) ATM, making it the 11th South American country to do so officially. South America had 79 ATMs prior to Uruguay’s entry, accounting for 0.2 percent of worldwide BTC ATM installations.
Uruguay’s first crypto ATM, according to mbito, was built in the seaside city of Punta del Este, a popular tourist destination in the region. URUBit and inBierto, two local crypto startups, collaborated to build and install Uruguay’s first Bitcoin ATM.
BTC, Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Ferret Token (FRT), and Urubit are the five cryptocurrencies presently supported by the crypto ATM in Uruguay (URUB). URUBit and inBierto, respectively, maintain and distribute in-house cryptocurrencies FRT and URUB.
InBierto’s CEO, Adolfo Varela, affirmed that the program was fully sponsored by the Uruguayan government. inBierto is a cryptocurrency investing platform and a member of the Uruguayan Chamber of Fintech (Cámara Uruguaya de Fintech), a fintech business incubator. URUBit is a decentralized cryptocurrency that was launched in Uruguay and is now available on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
Colombia now leads the South American market with 31 crypto ATM installations, followed by Brazil and Argentina with 22 and 11 installations, respectively, according to Coin ATM Radar.
Ecuador, Venezuela, Aruba, and Saint Kitts and Nevis are among the South American countries that have placed a crypto ATM.