While opening a bank account is pretty standard procedure for most average Americans, there are still people who can get left out of the banking worldm such as low-income individuals or the homeless. Some banks make it difficult by asking for high initial deposits to open a savings or checking account, or they may be unattractive with monthly maintenance fees, or in some cases they may deny people who’ve had problems with ChexSystems. For these reasons, some people forego banks by using alternative methods such as prepaid debit cards, but then there’s cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Ethereum doesn’t use any bank systems because it’s a digital currency mined from computer processors and running on a blockchain network. Because it is not run by any bank or require any kind of account to use, some have suggested it may serve as a banking solution for those who may have trouble with regular banks. That’s also because there are cryptocurrency ATMs out there that can make this possible like the ones CoinFlip has throughout the US.
With a cryptocurrency ATM like the ones CoinFlip has, there are local bitcoin purchasing options using cash; or you could sell cryptocurrency for cash if you needed to. You do need a crypto wallet that can be used with the cryptocurrency you want to buy, though it is also possible to find digital wallet that can be used for multiple cryptocurrencies. The wallet could be a desktop or mobile wallet that require the device to be powered on to use, or it could be a hardware or paper wallet. But the buying process is fairly straightforward as you select how much cryptocurrency you want to buy at the ATM, enter in the wallet’s address or have the QR code scanned, insert the cash and you’ll receive your cryptocurrency. If you are making a large transaction involving over $500, you usually will need a photo ID present for the ATM to scan. But once you have cryptocurrency in your wallet, you can use the blockchain network to send it to any other wallet around the world.
While there is a lot of complex algorithms to cryptocurrency mining and blockchain technology, the general concepts of using it in a digital wallet can usually be understood without too much difficulty. That’s why Daniel Polotsky decided to start the CoinFlip ATM network because he realized that in some countries it was becoming more mainstream, and the easier it could be to exchange cash for cryptocurrency the more open people could be to using it. Polotsky is a graduate of Northwestern University and a former intern at Morgan Stanley who first decided to try a little bit lf investing in Bitcoin, and when the ATM he tried using turned out to be more complicated than he expected, he and a friend of his decided they needed to build their own crypto ATM. It took some work through trial and error to get it up and running the way they wanted, but eventually the first CoinFlip ATM was launched in Chicago, and Polotsky and his team saw the market for more ATMs open up all over the US.
The cryptocurrency exchange service is primarily what Polotsky is keeping CoinFlip focused on, but he’s looking to incorporate other crypto based services into his platform in the future. He’s been excited about future financial tech trends such as coin offerings and other cryptocurrency investments. He has also been a keynote speaker at certain conferences where cryptocurrency comes up.
