Vancouver Bitcoin broker Bitcoiniacs is opening a store in Kelowna November 23, with a Bitcoin ATM to follow within a month.
This will be the second Bitcoin ATM in the world after the company launched the first one in Vancouver in October.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that doesn’t use intermediaries such as banks. Bitcoiniacs said the Bitcoin is designed to allow money to be sent over the Internet without the use of a credit card. Part of its appeal comes from the fact that it offers user anonymity when conducting transactions.
A handful of merchants around the province are already accepting the currency. Earlier this month, junior miner Alix Resources Corp. (TSX-V:AIX) announced it had signed an agreement to pay for exploratory work by Ridge Resources Ltd. with Bitcoin.
“We’re seeing a high demand for Bitcoin in the B.C. Interior and tremendous success with the first Bitcoiniacs store in Vancouver,” says Mark Kohlen, manager of the Bitcoiniacs Kelowna location.
The currency is traded like a stock and has rapidly increased in value. At the beginning of the year, it was trading around $20 per unit; as of press time November 22, it was trading at over $700.
Kohlen told Business in Vancouver the company has more plans for expansion.
“We’re planning on expanding nationwide, and possibly worldwide as well,” he said. “They are hoping to go to Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal.”
Bitcoiniacs’ Vancouver ATM is in Waves Coffee at 900 Howe Street.
Watch for an in-depth look at Bitcoin in an upcoming issue of Business in Vancouver, coming out November 26.
