
First Bitcoin ATM - Pro_bity
https://robocoinkiosk.com/
======
dobbsbob
I live a block away from this machine and won't be using it because of
nonsense biometric data harvesting. Why do I need to scan my ID, picture and
fingerprints to trade a small amount of bitcoins? I will continue to use the
Russian guy who hangs out at a Robson St cafe and doesn't want my biometric
data.

~~~
hristov
Wait, are you saying that there are now street bitcoin traders? This reminds
of communist times when the government limited foreign currency trading. There
was a specific coffee house where you could go and illicitly trade foreign
currency.

~~~
robflynn
Indeed there are! Here's a short Wired article I saw about the concept a few
months back:
[http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/07/buttonwood/](http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/07/buttonwood/)

One of my clients actually said to me, at the closing of a project: "I don't
know if you take bit coins, but I'm gonna go see my bitcoin guy in a few. I
don't like to buy online. Anyway, if you want to be paid in bit coins, let me
know! Otherwise I'll drop the check in the mail tomorrow."

(that's paraphrased a bit, as I cannot remember the exact wording, but the
meat of the quote is the same.)

------
lucb1e
I think this is like the second or third "first" ATM, though.

~~~
gkop
Yup. For example, the Internet Archive in SF launched what they call a bitcoin
ATM back in March. [1] [2]

[1] [http://blog.archive.org/2013/03/05/bitcoin-to-cash-
converter...](http://blog.archive.org/2013/03/05/bitcoin-to-cash-converter-
box/)

[2] [http://blog.archive.org/2013/04/03/how-the-internet-
archive-...](http://blog.archive.org/2013/04/03/how-the-internet-archive-is-
having-great-time-with-bitcoin/)

~~~
yodasan
That is pretty awesome, although, I believe "an honor-based converter box" is
a far cry from an ATM.

------
whalesalad
Just got this error when hitting the site. I guess node isn't the end-all-be-
all magic bullet for scalability everyone thinks it is?

    
    
        Error: EMFILE, too many open files '/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/views/index.html'
            at Object.fs.openSync (fs.js:427:18)
            at fs.readFileSync (fs.js:284:15)
            at View.exports.renderFile [as engine] (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:312:9)
            at View.render (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/view.js:75:8)
            at Function.app.render (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:504:10)
            at ServerResponse.res.render (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/response.js:753:7)
            at exports.index (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/routes/index.js:8:9)
            at callbacks (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:161:37)
            at param (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:135:11)
            at pass (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:142:5)

~~~
est
too many open files, Ubuntu has default /proc/sys/fs/file-max of 1024.

It's an SA problem, not dev problem.

~~~
pkhamre
If SA and dev had a great cooperation from an early point, the developer would
have told the SA about the platform requirements.

------
wcummings
Error: EMFILE, too many open files '/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/views/index.html' at Object.fs.openSync (fs.js:427:18) at
fs.readFileSync (fs.js:284:15) at View.exports.renderFile [as engine]
(/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:312:9) at
View.render (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/view.js:75:8) at Function.app.render
(/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:504:10) at
ServerResponse.res.render (/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/response.js:753:7) at exports.index
(/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-website/routes/index.js:8:9) at callbacks
(/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:161:37) at param
(/home/ubuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:135:11) at pss
(/home/ubtuntu/robocoin/robocoin-
website/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:142:5)

Idiots.......

~~~
camus2
> too many open files

I thought nodejs magically webscales ? /sarcasm

sidenote : please ditch this horrible unreadable font in the text body.that's
fine for a few headers but , Swap it with the serif font you are using in the
subtitles.

~~~
wcummings
Probably just hitting the fd-per-process ulimit

------
typicalrunt
While I'm happy to see the world's first anything happen in my hometown of
Vancouver, I do question why Vancouver was chosen over San Fran, Portland or
New York. Those cities seem more fit for World's First. Even if its a Canadian
market they are targeting, Toronto is our financial centre and would make a
better choice for this currency.

~~~
querulous
I think it's as simple as their first (operational) customer happens to be
based in Vancouver.

~~~
trevorcreech
Yup, the ATM is being operated by a Vancouver Bitcoin store called
[http://www.bitcoiniacs.com](http://www.bitcoiniacs.com)

------
pedalpete
Why is this machine always asking for the users fingerprints? Doesn't that
break the anonymity of bitcoin?

~~~
paulgb
My understanding is that it's to comply with money-laundering laws. They limit
the size of the transaction per-day and per-person.

I haven't bought bitcoins (online or through an ATM), but it seems any
purchase of bitcoins from any electronic money transfer would have the same
issue of breaking anonymity. I suppose there are ways to anonymize the funds
once you have them.

~~~
nwh
This is it really. There's a limit to the amount of cash they can do per
person per day, and this is a way to ensure people don't go over the limit.

------
lastres0rt
A couple guys at DEF CON this past year brought a coin-operated Bitcoin
converter -- US currency goes in, QR codes full of crypto come out.

I'm holding onto my souvenir bitcoin (worth $0.25 at time of transaction) as
long as I can.

------
Gregordinary
In January or February a group in New Hampshire showed off a Bitcoin ATM for
US Dollars, though I don't think it was ready for full scale production.
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57570925-38/need-
bitcoins-...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57570925-38/need-bitcoins-
this-atm-takes-dollars-and-funds-your-account/)

Looks like they've since updated and now have one that accepts notes from over
200 countries: [https://lamassu.is/](https://lamassu.is/)

------
ken47
As the popularity of bitcoin continues to grow, I think bitcoin owners will
appreciate the degree of liquidity this offers. The bitcoin ecosystem needs
something like this.

------
tux
All I see is > The connection was interrupted. Just like real ATM ^_^

