Bitcoin, the fledgling but becoming more popular, Internet currency, took a leap forward yesterday, with the introduction of a vending machine, the first in the USA.
A sort of, kind of, ATM but it doesn't dispense cash although you can put cash in and get a Bitcoin out. Although real, full, normal ATM's are on the way this month in fact.
Installed in a cigar shop in New Mexico (honestly), in order to avail of less strict financial rules and notably those affecting money laundering. Problems which have been persecuting Bitcoin following the revelations about 'Silk Road', the drug dealing site.
But this vending machine makes Bitcoin more real and more mainstream which is a leap in itself.
Mind you, the currency has and continues to suffer wild fluctuations from highs of over a 1,000 usd to just 50 usd. And that in the last 6 weeks. But these fluctuations are fuelled by technology glitches and more over, speculators.
Stability is key to the future of a currency.
Although in time, I've no doubt Bitcoin will get there. It only "started" in 2009 and really came to notice in 2012. More and more "bricks and mortar" merchants are accepting them and there's a huge number of online businesses/exchanges that do. It's growing.
The presence of Bitcoin machines on the 'high street' (or in cigar shops) will also put people more at ease. It has a long way to go but I think, it will be a strong global currency of the future which in turn, will turn the financial world of Governments, unable to control their own currency, on its head.
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