Bitcoin ATMs Open in Singapore

Associated Press

By Newley Purnell and Lorraine Luk

Bitcoin machines began operating in Singapore and Hong Kong even as the once-dominant Mt. Gox exchange said Friday it was filing for bankruptcy protection.

Tokyo-based Mt. Gox said it lost almost 750,000 of its customers’ bitcoins, marking the collapse of a marketplace that was once dominant in trading the virtual currency. Bitcoin, a virtual currency created in 2009, rose sharply over the course of 2013. At the start of last year, one bitcoin was valued at an easy-to-invest $13. By November, its price had soared to nearly $1,200.

The bankruptcy filing however didn’t bother Hungary native Andras Kristof, chief technical officer of Singapore-based Tembusu Terminals who unveiled Thursday a custom-built bitcoin vending machine inside a small bar called The Spiffy Dapper, located in central Singapore’s Boat Quay district. It allows users to insert Singapore dollars and receive, in return, a piece of paper with a private code to be used with a bitcoin wallet.

Tembusu has three employees and is self-funded. Kristof said the company’s goal is to “provide a good service” to the local bitcoin community, and isn’t concerned with making money off the device for now.

“Bitcoin should be easy to get and spend,” he said, noting that he estimates as many as 40 establishments in Singapore now accept the currency.

Singapore’s Inland Revenue Authority announced recently it would treat bitcoin as a service, not money or currency, and even published tax guidance.

Norma Sit, chief executive of Singapore-based bitcoin ATM maker Numoni, told The Wall Street Journal her company opened one machine yesterday and two more today, with another set to open this evening. They are situated at various locations throughout Singapore.

Zann Kwan, owner of Singapore-based Bitcoin Exchange, said she unveiled her company’s first device this morning at the city-state’s Citylink Mall. Similarly, her device, made by British Virgin Islands-based maker Lamassu, allows customers to insert cash to convert it to bitcoin. The Tembusu machine is “not competition,” she said. “It’s good for the community.”

Hong Kong-based Bitcoin platform ANXBTC Friday launched a shop in a commercial building in the Sai Wan area. Customers can provide U.S. or Hong Kong dollars to an employee, who makes a transaction on a laptop. Tariq Dennison, a Hong Kong-based American financial consultant, purchased $100 Hong Kong dollars ($13) of bitcoin, saying he wanted to try out the service.

“People lost money from the shutdown of Mt. Gox because they saved their bitcoin in the exchange system.” he said. “I feel secure with my bitcoin as I save them in my personal electronic wallet.”

Bitcoin ATMs Open in Singapore