Workshop Cafe (180 Montgomery Street) just became the first place in the city to have a BTM or Bitcoin Teller Machine on premises. The machine actually allows owners of bitcoin to convert the electronic currency to cash, and Workshop Cafe and the company BitAccess had an unveiling event on Friday. Bitcoin Magazine (yes, it exists) says, "The launch of this BTM is a big deal for San Francisco but also for Bitcoin as a whole."
In addition to exchanging Bitcoin for cash, you can also purchase Bitcoin with dollars of your own using the machine.
There's a transaction limit of 1 BTC, which is currently worth $476 USD, but repeated use can change this limit.
Here's how it works.
Upon first approach, the large and beautiful screen displays the current USD/BTC price along with some language options (English and French, at the moment). The very next screen is a disclaimer that the BTM is still a product that is in development which the user must accept before moving on...Phone number verification with code [gets] sent via SMS ... New users begin with a transaction limit of 1BTC, or the current equivalent amount in USD, and the BTM comes equipped with additional verification options to raise that limit, including facial photography in combination with a photo ID scan. Frequent users will see a decrease in their transaction limit over time, if additional verification is not supplied.
Way to go, nerds! Too bad that @SFHiddenBitcoin seems to have tapered off.
Previously: @SFHiddenBitcoin Is @HiddenCash For Nerds
