Tim Bock: 1500 Bitcoin ATMs in Georgia

Satoshibay co-founder Timo Bock recently shared his bitcoin experience in Georgia (the country) in a blog post.

He said that taking the definition of a Bitcoin ATM as a machine that exchanges Bitcoins and cash without the need for a human to facilitate the transaction, 1,500 additional Bitcoin ATMs are deployed in Georgia at present, a country with a population of 4.5 million, that is to say, there is one Bitcoin ATM per 3,000 people.

"This should be the highest density of Bitcoin ATMs worldwide", he said.

He further pointed out that the terminals quote the exchange rate between the local currency Georgian Lari (GEL) and Bitcoin (BTC), and the markup seemed to be around 8.5%, "which is allot more than online exchanges charge but not unusual for Bitcoin ATMs."

However, bitcoin transactions in Georgia are not without AML/KYC requirements. Elucidating this with an example, he said:

"The terminal prompts you to enter your Georgian phone number (luckily I have one) and then asks you to insert the money. I chose to insert 5 GEL (about 2 EUR). After the transaction I received an SMS that explained I need an account at emoney.ge to claim my Bitcoins. After creating an account, I still could not receive my Bitcoins until I have verified my account by showing my ID at a branch of the Liberty Bank... I suspect that process is complicated because of local KYL/AML requirements. After my trip to the bank I could finally withdraw my Bitcoins for additional 1% fee."

However, he clarified that though the process seemed complicated, this is a onetime requirement and for many Georgians, who already have a verified account, it's not even an issue.