Edgar Borja, CEO of Kioskos K1, has created the first Bitcoin ATM designed and built in El Salvador.
Edgar Borja, CEO of Kioskos K1, has created the first Bitcoin ATM designed and built in El Salvador.
The K1 can act as a host for Bitcoin wallet platforms such as Strike. The machine is fully Strike payment enabled.
The kiosk can accept payments in bills and send Bitcoin to a user’s Strike wallet. Strike is the most popular Bitcoin payment platform in El Salvador and was instrumental in liberating El Salvador from dollars through legalizing Bitcoin as currency.
Users of the K1 can also sell Bitcoin on the machine to receive cash. The ATM sends users a text message as a one time password as a means of authenticating the sender or recipient of the Bitcoin or dollars.
Among its prominent features are an advertisement screen, a touch screen, two security cameras, and an administrative dashboard.
K1 is made in El Salvador, and its ability to host multiple Bitcoin enabled platforms means the machine can be tailored to the needs of each customer or location where it is installed. The K1 can function as a Bitcoin cashier, service payment point, bank terminal and more.
So far Edgar Borja has sold one K1 ATM. According to the K1 website, the cost of one machine is $15,000. The monthly maintenance is $250. But unlike a human cashier, the K1 can operate 24/7, and the automated cashier can recuperate 100% of its initial cost in just 15 months.
But Edgar plans to turn the country of El Salvador into an ATM manufacturer through K1 and soon bring the devices to a high-tech device exporter. Until then, he is already working on small personalized devices for buying and selling, sending and receiving Bitcoin.
