(Kitco News) - Cryptocurrency adoption in Canada continues to rise as evidenced by the steady increase in the number of Bitcoin ATMs installed in the country, with the latest figures showing a 28% year-over-year increase.
According to data from Coin ATM Radar, Canada now has a total of 2,549 Bitcoin ATMs installed throughout the country, making it the second-ranked country in terms of Bitcoin ATMs behind the United States.
With less than 2,000 in operation at this time last year, that means that the total number of ATMs installed over the past 12 months equates to a 28% increase, which is the second fastest level of growth witnessed in any country except the U.S.
Bitcoin ATM installation in Canada: Coin ATM Radar
Based on the chart above, there were 2,174 Bitcoin ATMs installed throughout Canada in January of this year. As of Nov. 7, there are 2,549 installed, showing an increase of nearly 400 ATMs in eleven months.
Breaking it down further by quarter, it looks as though the country adds roughly 100 new Bitcoin ATMs each quarter, the second fastest pace of adoption in the world. In fact, outside of the U.S. and Canada, Bitcoin ATM adoption has stagnated in most other countries over the past two years.
Crypto ATM Number Net Changes
As shown in the chart above, the net change in the number of ATMs has actually been on the decline since January 2022, largely aligning with the downturn in the crypto market. During September of this year, the stats actually turned negative, with 450 ATMs actually removed from circulation.
Canada and the U.S. were the exceptions to the global trend, continuing to see their ATM counts increase throughout 2022. The U.S. is the clear leader in the space, with nearly 34,000 ATMs installed throughout the country.
Europe has 1,466 ATMs but has seen its level of adoption plummet as there were 1,393 listed as of January 2022. On a global scale, there are a total of 38,750 Bitcoin ATMs, with Canada having the second largest representation with 6.58% of the global BTC ATMs. There are a variety of reasons for the minimal adoption in other countries including regulations and high fees.
Canada is actually home to what is believed to be the first Bitcoin ATM in the world, which was installed at a Waves café in Vancouver, B.C. on Oct. 29, 2013. Recently, Bitcoin ATMs have increasingly become the target of scammers, with authorities in the U.S. warning about fraudulent schemes that leverage cryptocurrency ATMs.
