Benzinga | Oct 22, 2021 03:41PM EDT

Walmart To Install 200 Bitcoin ATMs In The U.S

Walmart INC (NYSE:WMT), the world's largest company by revenue, is letting customers buy Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) at dozens of its U.S. stores. Walmart Shoppers Can Now Buy Bitcoin at 200 Kiosks in Its Stores. Walmart plans to eventually install 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the U.S. and has installed 200 in a pilot program.

Although the pilot includes only 200 kiosks, the broader launch plans to eventually see the installation of 8,000 bitcoin ATMs across the country, according to Bloomberg. There has been no further details on timelines as of yet.

According to Coin ATM Radar, there are currently over 25,000 bitcoin ATMs at select grocery stores and service stations in the U.S. Coinstar operates 4,400 kiosks enabled for Bitcoin purchases, across 33 states.

The cryptocurrency ATM industry is expanding at a rapid pace, partly fueled by the COVID pandemic. Coinstar announced plans in 2020 to double its fleet of 3,500 Coinme BTMs amid a spike in usage.

More recently, Coinstar, which started adding bitcoin-buying services with Coinme in early 2019, added 300 bitcoin-enabled machines at Winn-Dixie, Fresco y M?s, Harveys and other grocery stores across Florida.

But Walmart, long seen as the crown jewel to bringing crypto financial services into the mainstream, is another step up -- even if the 200-kiosk pilot is chump change for a company with 4,700 stores and a market cap of $409 billion.