With 10 states (plus the District of Columbia) and counting having legalized recreational marijuana, and nearly every state legalizing it for medicinal purposes to one extent or another, marijuana dispensaries are popping up on street corners all across the country. It’s one of the fastest growing industries and is expected to gross billions of dollars over the next decade. However, the marijuana industry faces many obstacles and challenges that other industries don’t have to worry about. Fortunately, the cryptocurrency industry and a new type of ATM are providing a solution.
While marijuana is slowly becoming legal in a larger percentage of the country, using and selling it for recreational purposes is still seen as a crime on some level. As a result, a lot of credit card companies and banks won’t do business with marijuana dispensaries. Without the support of a bank or financial institution, it’s almost impossible to operate a business in today’s world. Some cannabis shops have been forced to open accounts under an alias to hide what they sell. The rest have to conduct business entirely with cash, which can complicate things while also making them vulnerable to robbery attempts.
Naturally, most marijuana dispensaries utilize ATMs so that their customers can withdraw the cash they need to make purchases from the shop. But another type of ATM is becoming increasingly popular inside marijuana shops, and it’s called a Bitcoin ATM. Unlike traditional ATMs, users do not physically withdraw Bitcoins from the machine; that would just be asking for trouble in the form of more robberies. However, it does allow patrons of marijuana dispensaries to make purchases without having to use cash. It also makes it easier for shops to get by without the backing of a bank or other financial institution.
Physically, Bitcoin ATMs are free-standing machines like traditional ATMs. However, they are used a little differently. Rather than allowing users to make withdrawals, they allow users to access a cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows them to use cash or a credit card to buy Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies that they can turn around and use to make purchases at a marijuana dispensary. The machine has specialized software that enables quick and convenient cryptocurrency transactions.
Bitcoin ATMs have become so important to the marijuana industry that a company that makes Bitcoin ATMs called Virtual Crypto Technologies has created a machine designed specifically for cannabis dispensaries. When a buyer is ready to make a purchase, they scan a QR code that appears on the shop’s point-of-sale screen interface. This code is specific to each individual transaction. Within seconds, minutes at the most, the store will receive confirmation that Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency has been transferred to pay for the products being purchased.
The software inside the machine allows the transaction to happen in real time. It also searches various cryptocurrency exchange platforms to find one with the lowest exchange rates, ensuring that buyers get a good deal when they are purchasing the Bitcoin. Essentially, the customer is buying Bitcoin and immediately turning around and selling that Bitcoin for products at the marijuana dispensary. With Bitcoin ATMs and similar machines, the process happens in minutes and seconds, making for quick and easy transactions that anyone visiting a marijuana dispensary can use to make a purchase.
Contact National ATM Wholesale today to learn more about using bitcoin ATMs for marijuana dispensaries.