Bitcoin ATM installations record low in May, biggest drop since 2019

Since January, Bitcoin ATM installations have seen a gradual slowdown, eventually falling 89.75% from December 2021’s 1,971 new installations.

Bitcoin (BTC) ATM installations across the globe have seen a steep decline throughout the year 2022, with May recording just 202 new BTC ATMs, a range last seen three years ago in 2019.

Since January, Bitcoin ATM installations saw a gradual slowdown, eventually falling down 89.75% from December 2021’s 1,971 new installations. However, data from Coin ATM Radar reveals an evident comeback in the installation numbers, as the world saw 817 Bitcoin ATMs installed in June — in just the first five days.

Some of the key factors contributing to the slowdown of crypto ATM installations include geopolitical tensions across the world, unclear or anti-crypto regulations, market saturation and business impact due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

Coin ATM Radar’s data confirms that the United States is home to 87.9% of the total 37,826 crypto ATMs worldwide. Europe houses a network of 1,419 ATMs, representing 3.8% of the global ATM installations.

Crypto ATM manufacturer Genesis Coin maintains its position as the leader in terms of the market share, representing 41% of the total operational crypto ATMs across the globe. Other manufacturers with prominent market share include General Bytes (21.6%), Bitaccess (16%), Coinsource (5.4%) and Bitstop (4.7%).

Related: Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity crosses 3,900 BTC, marking a new ATH

While real-world challenges may have a momentary impact on Bitcoin’s physical expansion via ATMs, at its core, the Bitcoin network continues to outperform its previous records in securing, decentralizing and speeding up the impenetrable peer-to-peer network.

As Cointelegraph reported based on data from Bitcoin Visuals, the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) capacity attained an all-time high of 3,915.776 BTC — further improving BTC transaction speeds and reducing fees over the layer-2 protocol. The Bitcoin LN was first implemented into the Bitcoin mainnet in 2018 to address Bitcoin’s infamous scalability issues.