Following a merger with the $885 million-valued special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) GSR II Meteora (GSRM), shares of Bitcoin Depot, the largest crypto ATM operator in the world, more than doubled on their Nasdaq debut on Monday.The first provider of cryptocurrency ATMs to list on a significant American stock exchange is Atlanta, Georgia-based Bitcoin Depot, which trades under the symbol “BTM.” BTM shares climbed as high as $6.60 in pre-market trading, more than double GSRM’s closing price from Friday, before tumbling to $3.39, up 5% from that price.
With the help of a crypto ATM, customers can purchase cryptocurrency with cash or debit cards and wire the tokens directly to a specific wallet without using a cryptocurrency exchange.Scammers, on the other hand, have also used them to advertise things on websites like eBay or Craigslist with instructions for buyers to pay by depositing actual cash at an ATM.According to information from Coin ATM Radar, Bitcoin Depot operates approximately 6,000 of these machines, holding a 20% market share of ATMs in the United States and a 17.6% global share.
According to Bitcoin Depot CEO Brandon Mintz, the crypto ATM market is “highly fragmented,” which leaves plenty of space for consolidation in the industry. As a result, the company is currently focusing on this area.
“There’s a few dozen operators with over 100 bitcoin ATMs in the U.S. alone and there has not been a lot of M&A activity in this space compared to other parts of the crypto and blockchain industry,” Mintz said in an interview. “Rolling up this highly fragmented market is a really exciting opportunity for us.”
Since Bitcoin Depot has already installed ATMs at more than 2,000 Circle K convenience stores in the past two years, Mintz continued, the company plans to pursue similar installation agreements with additional “household name retailers” as well as some smaller regional chains.