So how do you trade in Bitcoin? Some limited establishments will take Bitcoin for paying various bills, but how do you easily acquire and sell Bitcoin. I mean easily, not mining new Bitcoin
— which requires running your computer for hours/days/months on end
— or getting involved with some of the ethereal trading exchanges you can create accounts on to trade Bitcoin. What was once one of the biggest trading exchanges for Bitcoin was Mt. Cox, but if you
call up their website these days, you will see why that is not an optimal path to buying – or what is really important, selling – bitcoin. Why can’t you get Bitcoin the way you get ‘currency’ normally via a conveniently located Bitcoin
MAC Machine ATM?
It turns out there actually are Bitcoin ATM machines and there are even some in Pittsburgh. Well, actually there are all of two Bitcoin ATMs. According to
coinatmradar.com there are a total of 2 ATM machines within a hundred miles of Pittsburgh. I can't begin to vouch if the ATMs they have listed there, and mapped even, is a complete list.
Some ATM machines allow you to only purchase Bitcoin (purchase or exchange?... depends on whether you define Bitcoin as a currency or not.) Other ATMs allow exchange both to and from dollars. One ATM listed in Pittsburgh where you can only ‘buy’ Bitcoin is at the One Stop Mini Mart on the Blvd of the Allies. But that is r
eported to be non-operational as I write.
The sole machine listed where you can both buy and sell Bitcoin in Pittsburgh
— and so the only place where you can trade your Bitcoin to get cold hard US cash
— is at the Quick Stop on Liberty Ave. at the seam of Lawrenceville, Polish Hill and the Strip District.
I would love to get a comment from anyone who has actually used this machine, or any other local Bitcoin ATM? Seriously, does it work and why use it?
The debates over whether Bitcoin is or isn’t a currency are still really only beginning. The thing I do wonder about is why Bitcoin is legit enough to be used at a range of retail establishments, and legit enough to have ATMs, why was the Ice Cream money that one local establishment created just a few years ago was
deemed to be illegal. Ice cream may not meet the technical definition as a store of value, but compared to blockchains?
And with full disclosure I have no business relationship with these folks, so I won’t be getting a commission if you to this site to
procure your own Bitcoin ATM machine (only $14K).