Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Fuerteventura

[Sam]

Today I saw an article @ Diario about Bitcoin. Not going to post it here because it's unrelated to this island (at least for now) but (not only) it made me realise that cryptocurrencies will possibly be a part of our life in the future. BTC was mentioned at the phone repair shop website a couple of weeks earlier and if I recall correctly, it was about a Bitcoin ATM located in the capital.

I'm planning to check the ATM in the next couple of weeks and will report back, unless someone else won't beat me to it. Watch this space    

[Sam]

Managed to locate the Bitcoin ATM in a corner shop called El 24 horas del parquito. Called in a few days ago to find the BTM, located at the back of the store, turned off. 👀
Asked the shop manager / owner for help. She had no idea how to turn it on but was more than happy to call "the guy" to fix it. She said he usually can get down to the shop in 10 minutes. We didn't want to bother and told her we'll try again in a couple of days. I took a couple of pics of the ATM as well as the contract info. Found an email address and sent an email to "the guy". Got a reply the next day (or a day later) with an explanation why the BTM was off and we exchanged with Jesus a few more emails, using translate tools on both sides.

Called in to the shop to find the BTM off again. Asked the (this time younger) shop keeper and she quickly located a switch and turned the ATM on. Took less than a minute to boot and we were able to exchange our hard cold cash for some Internet magic Money in a matter of seconds.

• The ATM "talks" in English 😀
  
• Minimum to exchange: 50€
  
• Smallest note the 🏧 takes is also 50€
  
• Maximum to exchange per transaction without KYC (know your customer - involves ID checking): 500€
  
• Maximum exchange per day per person / wallet without KYC is 1,500€.
  
• This ATM works both ways so you can buy or sell your BTC on the spot.
  
• Currently able to exchange BTC - Bitcoin, LTC - Litecoin, ETH - Ethereum and BCH - Bitcoin Cash (be careful with the last one, lots of negative comments about BCH!).
  
• Fees: 1.50€ plus 5% on top of the exchange rate*. 5% is quite fair, considering Bitcoin ATMs around the globe charging up to 10%, the lowest I can remember being 3%.
  
• You can use your own (mobile) wallet** or can choose to print out a paper wallet.
  

*Jesus, being a nice guy, send me a 30% discount code, reducing the fees down to 3.5%. Simply type into the BTM this code: BTC2019
Obviously, the code is valid only for couple more days of this year but I have been promised to get a new one as soon as he will manage to set up a new one.

**For Android users, I would recommend to install Edge wallet or Mycelium, both open source and you can store multiple crypto currencies, not just Bitcoin.

El 24 horas del parquito on the map:

[Jason W]

For anyone interested, you can buy various crypto currencies through Revolut. My son has been “investing” through my wife’s account for sometime and seems to have encyclopaedic knowledge on the various currencies. Think you can purchase very small amounts at a time. Not sure but assume you can convert back to cash quickly if needed and draw the cash from any ATM.

[Sam]

For anyone interested, you can buy various crypto currencies through Revolut. My son has been “investing” through my wife’s account for sometime and seems to have encyclopaedic knowledge on the various currencies. Think you can purchase very small amounts at a time. Not sure but assume you can convert back to cash quickly if needed and draw the cash from any ATM.

Your son might just discovered the Money of the future. Congrats! 😉💰

There's one (massive) issue going this way. You'll never own the coin. Revolut does. And they'll give you "I owe you" (pinky promise) balance points, instead. They also can block your account for whatever reason they choose, keeping your Money as long as they want / legally can.

Crypto people would say: Not your keys, not your coin. Read as Not your wallet (keeping your seed/password keys), not your Money.

Having your wallet is like having cash always on you. Nobody can touch it, unless you'll let them.

Bud yes, easy way to invest and spend if needed, especially in small amounts.

This feature isn't open to (free) standard members. The fee is about £5 per month but yes very easy way to get involved in the cryptocurrency world.

[Sam]

... This feature isn't open to (free) standard members. The fee is about £5 per month but yes very easy way to get involved in the cryptocurrency world.

Revolut just announced buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is now open to all members.

I would still prefer using the ATM or an exchange to actually own my Bitcoin but felt like the news are worth sharing.

[Sam]

Visited the Bitcoin ATM last month and it still is at the same place as mentioned in the opening post. Just wanted to update for anyone considering to donate some Money directly to the Ukrainian Government. Using this method is much more private than sending them Money from the bank account.

The tweet posted from the official account: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282

The Bitcoin address: 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P

Also adding a screenshot of the tweet, all three addresses have to be the same. Compare them, and comment if something changed, please.