First Bitcoin ATM in Malta Doesn’t Dispense BTC to Customers

Bitcoin ATMs are a great tool to introduce the population to cryptocurrency. Malta recently received its first cryptocurrency ATM. Unfortunately, it seems things aren’t going as well as originally expected. After just one month, several issues have arisen. One glitch in particular will eat the customer’s cash and not return any bitcoins. This is a big problem for Gabriel Cretu Torica, who operates this machine.

Operating a Bitcoin ATM is not an easy task by any means. There are many different potential issues one has to keep in mind. Most operators make a decent profit from operating such a machine as well. However, that is not necessarily the case in Malta. Operator Gabriel Cretu Torica isn’t too pleased with his Bitcoin ATM whatsoever. In fact, he claims the manufacturer sold him a defective unit which needs fixing. Several issues have become rather prevalent, with one bug standing out in particular.

Malta Bitcoin ATM has a Devastating bug

If a user buys a specific amount of Bitcoin from the ATM, they will not receive it. Instead, the machine just swallows cash without any further interaction. It will display a “transaction error” message, which forces customers to call up Torica. Unfortunately, this issue has arisen multiple times already. Thankfully, it can be solved by manually sending the bitcoins in question. It is not a convenient solution by any means, though. Moreover, it begs the question of how “useful” this machine really is.

Torica doesn’t allow the concept of being available 24/7 for this purpose, though. Additionally, the current Bitcoin price fluctuations can cause financial losses for him. This is not a good sign by any means, though. Issues like these should never arise, to begin with. Moreover, it is up to the manufacturer to issue a solution for this problem. That manufacturer is General Bytes, who have a very solid reputation in the Bitcoin ATM world. Torica isn’t too pleased with their support staff, for obvious reasons.

For the time being, it is unclear what will happen to this machine. Torica feels setting up the ATM in Malta is a “really stupid idea”. For his sake, we can only hope the bug is addressed soon. The goal is to put the ATM back online later this week, but with a new condition. Bitcoins will be dispensed manually by him every single time within the hour. It defeats the purpose of this machine, but it is the only workable solution right now. A very troublesome development, to say the least.

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