With the help of a collaboration agreement it has struck with cash-to-crypto supplier DigitalMint, Hyosung America’s 175,000 U.S.-based ATMs can now accept Bitcoin (BTC).
In accordance with the agreement, which was made public on July 12, Hyosung America will incorporate DigitalMint’s cryptocurrency purchasing options into its forthcoming API-based app store that is being developed for the company’s ATMs.
In addition to providing ATMs, bank wires, and tellers as its own BTC and Litecoin (LTC) payment rails, DigitalMint also offers software API connections that let merchants or ATM operators sell BTC through their machines.
However, each ATM operator will be free to choose whether or not to use DigitalMint’s services, so it is unlikely that the bulk of Hyosung’s 175,000 ATMs will really offer BTC buying.
The API-based app store will not only give ATM owners an opportunity to sell bitcoins but also a chance to offer a variety of new services to them, according to Brad Nolan, CMO of Hyosung America:
“With the app store, any ATM operator using our retail software platform can subscribe and download apps such as DigitalMint, to enable their ATMs to do more — driving new revenue streams for the operators and the retailers with whom they partner.”
Given the size of Hyosung America’s ATM network, it might give DigitalMint’s services a lot of customer exposure. However, given that DigitalMint only provides crypto buying services for two crypto assets, it is unclear if the two have ambitions to begin further agreements.
The North American division of the South Korean company Hyosung, Inc., Hyosung America, asserts that it is the “biggest provider of ATMs” in the United States. Apart from this, the company hasn’t made any major moves in the cryptocurrency space, but given that it’s developing an API-based app store, additional crypto partnerships might come.
The United States presently has 33,772 Bitcoin ATMs installed, making it the nation with the most BTC ATMs worldwide, according to statistics from Coin ATM Radar. While the total number of BTC ATMs installed worldwide is 38,430, Canada, which is in second place, has just 2,438.
Data from Coin ATM Radar indicates a decline in demand for ATMs that accept cryptocurrency; in May, the number of Bitcoin ATMs installed worldwide fell to a historic low of just 202, the lowest level since 2019. The number did increase again to roughly 714 by June, but it is still far below ATH statistics of 2,037 published in August 2021.
