Exchange Platform Safello Demonstrates Sweden's First Bitcoin ATM

Bitcoin exchange Safello will unveil Sweden's first bitcoin ATM next week, after announcing their work on the Lamassu machine just three weeks ago.

The ATM will be on display next Monday at Stockholm's STHLM TECH Meetup – converting users' cash into bitcoin and depositing it in their wallet addresses.

For now, the machine is operating in Safello's office while the company puts the finishing touches to its service. It will move to a more permanent location soon.

“We are in discussion with a big mall in the centre of Stockholm. We aim to cooperate with them for the first ATM deployment,” said Frank Schuil, CEO and co-founder of Safello. He added:

“Initially it will be one ATM that will be installed, and pending the success of the implementation, others may follow.”

When the company originally described their ATM, Stockholm mall Gallarian was cited as a target.

Safello will be operating the ATM, which will be owned by 19-year-old bitcoin entrepreneur Ludvig Oberg, an angel investor in the company. Oberg and Safello will share revenue from the machine.

Not just any customer will be able to use the machine, however.

Schuil says the financial authority in Sweden sees bitcoin as a “high-risk event”, requesting additional KYC (Know Your Customer) questions beyond the normal ID verification. Consequently, the firm will take users through an extended KYC process via its website before allowing them to use the ATM. He added:

“The ATM becomes a cash deposit point for our users that are already verified with extended KYC.”

Manufactured by Lamassu, the bitcoin ATM cost $5,000 to build (this includes the Google Nexus tablet used for its display). It is the latest in a line of machines shipped by the company. Lamassu has delivered ATMs to over 13 cities since it sold its first in October.

Safello is moving quickly to market bitcoin. The company was founded in July, and its online trading site only went live back in August. It began promoting its plans for an ATM in mid-November.

So far, ATMs have seen great success: bringing bitcoin into the public arena in a way that wasn’t possible before. Canada’s first ATM, developed by US-based firm Robocoin, took over $1m in its first month of operation in a Vancouver coffee shop.

Those interested in the demo event can register using the promo code ‘bitcoinATM’.