It is not something that stands out for those who are not looking for it.
Embedded in a discreet corner of one of the many shopping centers in Spain, cryptocurrency ATMs have emerged, more similar to a slot machine than to a bank ATM.
In one of them, in the center of Madrid, a strange warning reads in capital letters: “Important: if you have received a call from your boss telling you to come here, do not buy!
“You are being a victim of a scam.”
This disconcerting message is also not the expected welcome for potential investors in cryptocurrencies who, once they stand in front of the screen, are informed that the activity they are preparing to carry out is not regulated, among other conditions.
However, a long line of anxious customers stretches out next to the machine, with barely an hour left until the ATM closes.
In Spain there are 261 ATMs that operate crypto assets;
worldwide, 40,000, according to data from the analysis firm Coin ATM Radar.
Shopping centers and gas stations are their natural habitat in Spanish territory and, paradoxically, they are located right next to bank ATMs without an associated branch, another common element of this type of space.
These 'BTMs', as they are called in English, allow the sale of cryptocurrencies (also the purchase, although it is a minority), and their appeal lies in the fact that they bring the complex world of cryptoactives down to street level (or shopping center level). : many of these firms direct their services to people with little knowledge of the sector and, usually, low income.
Its great attraction is the quick obtaining of cash and, in some cases, anonymity.
The three companies behind most of these ATMs are Shitcoins, BitBase and GBTC.
All three are included in the list of
providers of virtual currencies of the Bank of Spain, a registration that only implies that they comply with regulations on the prevention of money laundering.
Cryptoassets, as a form of investment, are not yet regulated.
The European regulation that will put order in its activity, MICA (acronym for
markets in crypto-assets
) will not come into force until the end of this year, and only in a small part.
“We operate between many gray lines,” says Aitor de Linares Serrano, marketing manager for Shitcoins in Spain.
“Many times we don't know if we are doing something wrong until we do it.”
Sandra (35 years old, Madrid), has been looking for a crypto asset ATM for four days.
She has moved, she claims, from a home
she squats
in the Barajas neighborhood to a shopping center in the Salamanca neighborhood as a last resort, as she explains.
“I need
money,
the police came to my apartment this morning.”
Sandra is far from the usual profile of the
crypto bro
, and her search for an ATM is due not to the resurgence of bitcoin, which exceeded $69,000 on the stock market for the first time this Tuesday, but rather to seeking to make quick money through Worldcoin, the new crypto project. from the founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, which is already worth about $10 billion on the stock market and has risen 337% since 2023.
The deal seems simple: Users sell their biometric data to the company, and in return, Worldcoin, which uses the images to advance the development of AI programs, pays with redeemable cryptocurrencies, or
tokens
.
The prices are variable, but this month the capture of the iris is paid for 10
tokens
, plus a biweekly subscription of an a priori uncertain amount (now, three
tokens
) and a bonus of 10 for each additional user that is achieved (up to five maximum ).
And, although users do not know what bitcoin is, the currency moves up and down like the rest of crypto assets.
Now it is trading at over seven dollars, so the transfer of the image brings in at least 70 euros.
It has four million users globally, and more than 360,000 Spaniards have sold their biometric data to access these cryptocurrencies, according to the Open University of Catalonia.
Before this week, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) ordered this Wednesday the blocking of this activity (and the blocking of the data already collected).
The authority has given 72 hours to Tools For Humanity, the technology company that developed it, so that the 'Orb', devices that capture the image, stop operating for three months.
Worldcoin plummeted 10% after the suspension.
Facade of the GBTC ATM on Paseo de la Habana, 24, in Madrid.
Photo: Mario BermudoMario Bermudo
Next to the window of a GBTC Finance establishment on Madrid's Paseo de la Habana, which includes one of its 30 ATMs in the capital, a dozen people wait to redeem their
Worldcoin
tokens .
None of them know that the valuation of bitcoin has touched one and a half billion dollars.
They don't care either.
They do not fit the profile of a crypto asset fan: they are mostly immigrants looking for new ways to send remittances to their country of origin, or people looking to take advantage of the latest fashion.
“There are people who pay their room rent with this,” they acknowledge.
Others are also unclear about the fees they charge for using their machines, and most brokers
do
not provide that information until the user is in the middle of a transaction.
One woman wasn't even aware that she had to own cryptocurrencies in order to get money.
“Our clients are usually people who are unaware of the world of cryptocurrencies.
We help them,” says the CEO of GBTC Finance, Alejandro Montoya, to this newspaper, who recognizes that the commissions charged in the 19 branches it has in Spain tend to vary: where there is more demand, the commissions are higher.
José Ruiz (51 years old), earns 1,300 euros a month as a corpse embalmer and has gone to this store to redeem Worldcoin cryptocurrencies for the first time.
He acknowledges that he decided to scan his iris and sell his biometric data after a friend's recommendation.
When he is asked about the lack of regulation on crypto assets and the warnings raised about data protection, José lights a cigarette and shrugs his shoulders.
“Don't look at a gift horse's teeth,” he concludes dryly.
High commissions
The commissions charged by these ATMs are higher than those of traditional banking and, also, than those of operational cryptocurrency platforms.
GBTC charges below 5% in commissions to buy bitcoin, and 7% if the client wants to sell cryptocurrencies, according to a company manager.
BitBase commissions, on the other hand, usually reach double digits: if you make a transaction between 20 and 1,000 euros, they charge a 10% commission, and if the client withdraws or sells an amount above 1,000 to 2,500 euros , 8%, they say.
The manager highlights that the most economical and attractive method is by bank transfer, where they usually only charge 5%, although some banks, such as Caixabank, usually reject it.
However, if you are looking to redeem a
Worldcoin token,
like most customers around the BitBase ATM, commissions fly to 25% per amount, a decision the company made in the face of the currency's growing popularity.
Both this platform and GBTC require a bank account and an ID to be able to operate in their ATMs, something that will be mandatory with the entry into force of MICA, but which the
best-known
exchanges already usually comply with.
Not so in the case of Shitcoins, since as explained on its website, it works “against the financial system.”
It thus allows the withdrawal of up to 190 euros without any type of control, in exchange for a commission much higher than that of the aforementioned financial system: up to 10% of each withdrawal.
Now, Shitcoins Club, a Polish crypto ATM firm that defines itself as 'anarcho-capitalist', defends that it does not distribute Worldcoin because it goes against the company's philosophy.
“What Worldcoin does is buy personal information,” says its marketing manager, Aitor de Linares Serrano.
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