After four long years, crypto ATMs (BTMs) are coming back to Japan. Gaia Co., the local company that plans to set up the BTMs, said that they will accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).
The BTMs had been operational in Tokyo since 2014 but were later taken away after a local exchange was hacked and $530 million was taken. This caused the BTMs to disappear in 2018.
The firm has decided to install 50 BTMs around the country, initially only in Tokyo and Osaka. They hope to set up 130 BTMs in the next three years. The BTMs will have a limited extraction amount so that they follow the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
The company's CEO said that the BTMs gave the crypto investors a "sense of security" as they allowed people to "convert their [cryptoassets] into cash immediately." The company also said that they would want to "expand" into crypto payments because cryptocurrencies have the ability to become "payment currencies."
The readdition of crypto ATMs in Japan can help spread and grow the use of cryptocurrencies. They will also make it much easier to make crypto payments or transfers.