Coinstar customers in Connecticut now have the option of purchasing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Coinstar Is Bringing Bitcoin to the Masses Typically, those big green machines one sees in the corners of supermarkets and grocery stores allow a person to bring in all their loose change and trade it for paper bills. Now, however, these machines are permitting customers to exchange those coins for digital currencies, suggesting just how big and popular the space has become in recent years. Coinstar machines in the area are teaming up with digital currency exchange Coinme in Seattle, Washington. The machines garnering the bitcoin trading option are situated within Stop & Shop and Big Y supermarkets throughout Connecticut, and there are already plans to set these
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Coinstar customers in Connecticut now have the option of purchasing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Coinstar Is Bringing Bitcoin to the Masses
Typically, those big green machines one sees in the corners of supermarkets and grocery stores allow a person to bring in all their loose change and trade it for paper bills. Now, however, these machines are permitting customers to exchange those coins for digital currencies, suggesting just how big and popular the space has become in recent years.
Coinstar machines in the area are teaming up with digital currency exchange Coinme in Seattle, Washington. The machines garnering the bitcoin trading option are situated within Stop & Shop and Big Y supermarkets throughout Connecticut, and there are already plans to set these machines up at approximately 90 other locations.
Neil Berquist – Coinme’s chief executive officer – explained in a recent statement:
We see sales continue to grow. People can take loose change and turn it in, but there are also people coming in with 20 $50 bills at a time. The average transaction is $500.
What is intriguing about the situation is that people do not necessarily need to trade in their loose change. Rather, they have the option of showing up with paper money and purchasing as much crypto as their hearts desire.
According to Berquist, people are trying to diversify their portfolios as much as possible given the instability of today’s economy. He says that ever since last year’s pandemic the U.S. dollar and other forms of fiat are appearing weaker than normal, and thus many people are seeking new ways of keeping themselves financially stable. He says bitcoin has become one of the most popular methods and claims:
People are living multi-currency lives, now. They are not putting 100 percent into dollars.
These Coinstar machines are now giving investors an easy way to get their hands on further digital assets. Per Delia Mendoza – a spokeswoman for Coinme – there are two different types of customers that seek to use these machines and invest further in crypto. She states:
We see two customer types – the crypto-curious person who is nontechnical, buys bitcoin to invest and does not want to be left behind. They are the first-time customer. The second type is a ‘crypto lifer’ using crypto for payments, remittances and to fund trading accounts.
Transaction Fees Are a Bit Rough
She also comments that many of the individuals using these machines are males 45 years of age or older. They typically make an annual salary in the $50,000 range, and thus view bitcoin as a solid way of saving for their golden years.
The one downside to using Coinstar machines is that purchasing fees can be a bit high. Users are charged as much as four percent per transaction, which is ultimately comparable with the likes of crypto exchanges such as Coinbase.