News

Albuquerque no longer 'Imbibe'-ing in Bitcoin ATM

April 3, 2014

With much media fanfare, the "first Bitcoin ATM in the U.S." went live Feb. 18, in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Imbibe cigar bar. Without a word, it went away sometime around the 1st of April.

According to an April 2 story by CNet, a reporter stopped by Imbibe to check out its Lamassu cash-in Bitcoin machine only to discover that the machine was gone and, according to the bartender on duty, probably headed back whence it came.

Neither Lamassu nor the operator of the machine, Enchanted Bitcoins, a venture owned by Eric Stromberg, have said why the machine was pulled. Meanwhile the second "first Bitcoin ATM in the U.S." (this one by Robocoin dispenses cash as well as accepting it) went live on Feb. 20 at the HandleBar in Austin, Texas.

A call from ATM Marketplace to determine the status of that machine went unanswered.