Bitcoin ATMs Raise Legal Concerns
As in, they help you evade stupid laws
The Robocoin is an ATM for Bitcoins, and for a few glorious days this past weekend, on a conference center floor in San Jose, California, it dished out thousands of dollars in exchange for Bitcoins, the world's most popular digital currency.
The two brothers who built the Robocoin — Mark and John Russell, of Las Vegas — are still trying to figure out what to do with their contraption. But one thing's certain: They don't want to operate it on their own. Mark Russell isn't even sure if that's legal.
It's the kind of problem that's emblematic of the ever-growing world of Bitcoins. Entrepreneurs sense big opportunity. Regulators aren't sure what to make of it. And all that makes the future of Bitcoin ATMs as cloudy as it is interesting.