Im still relatively new to the whole crypto currency world, so still trying to process what seems to be something that has the potential to open up an overly regulated and oppressive form of communication that we use to express value. Personally i don't believe anything is going to have a massive impact upon our lives in the short term, however progress seems to be quite fast when you start to get involved in it all. There seems to be lots of innovative and creative ideas that could have a significant impact, some of which have been/ are very lucrative.
What I have only recently found out, after i learnt how to trade of course is how difficult it appears to be to cash out your crypto. Until i randomly decided to search for Crypto ATM uk into google, i just thought it be worth a try. I then found, to my disbelief that not only do they exist that there are several spaced around London mostly located in convenience shops. There was one a few miles away, i was like wow and got ready to go to one as soon as i could.
On the way there i was trying to conceptualise how this was all going to work. I thought well it's likely to only dispense notes, so would have to transfer the exact amount of bitcoin. What if i sent a little bit more, or less? In my binance account the amount i have shows in USD.. how would that equate between 3 currencies? How long would it take i know it tends to take up to 10 minutes or so to transfer between exchanges, once the transaction has been confirmed.
I finally got to the shop and was confronted by a touchscreen attached to a post that had a large QR scanner and what looked like a slot i was hoping fiat would come out of. The shopkeeper seemed to be quite clueless, bearing in mind a few weeks ago i knew practically nothing about crypto, whether or not this was the shop owner I'm not sure. It was actually quite funny, two guys trying to work out a machine that most people barely know exists. Obviously my main question to him was does money come out? can i sell.. Maybe.. not sure was the reply, he thinks someone has.
So i pressed the 'sell bitcoin' button on the screen... This was where the bubble burst. 'transaction unavailable' Did it run out of money? had all the local 'criminals' already cleaned this one out? or was there something genuinely wrong. There was no point asking the guy i would of got more valuable information out of one of his drunk customers.
I got back on my phone, still armed with hope that i would be able to cash out. There was one in Pimlico which is a posh area near Victoria in central London, again only a few miles away. Off i went. This time it was located inside some sort of small currency exchange shop, i could tell straight away this one looked different, it was smaller there was no slot only a QR scanner and touch screen. i asked the guy in there, no you can only buy. To be fair it did actually say that on the site ( I'm going to add at the bottom) i didn't realise. So back onto my phone to find another. There was one in Piccadilly circus that sells, i thought that this one must work being so central. I got there, it was like a kind of half shop half food counter for tourists. There was no machine, i asked and to my discontent the guy behind the counter said that they didn't have it anymore. Great so the website's information was out of date. I also noticed one where on the page that you see them all on that you could buy / sell then when you clicked on it you could only buy. Also that there were a few located inside post office's, that are open on a Sunday, surely not, google confirmed this. They did have a telephone number, but only open during office hours and Saturdays.
This was when I started to realise that, like a lot of ventures involving Crypto that they're obviously a 'work in progress'. I thought i'd try one more, rather than waste my time going all the way there that i'd call the shop. It was a Londis which is the UK equivalent of a kwik e mart :) He wasn't very helpful, i just wanted to know if his one worked, again ambiguity he thinks it does, not sure, then when i explained that i'd been having trouble he changed his mind. It seemed like he didn't really have the time for me. Please.. i've spent like the whole day running around London could he just click the sell bitcoin button and tell me what it says. He went and i wasn't too surprised to hear that it didn't work.
I have seen steemians in the US successfully withdraw fiat from their crypto wallets so it seems, as is typically the case that we are a little bit behind in England. To be fair before this morning i didn't know we had them until i checked. I also understand the banks reasoning for not allowing deposits of crypto currency as it will devalue their worth. Yet there are US banks accepting Crypto currency deposits. Personally i believe that sooner or later the corrupt organisations that we call banks will have to provide an open way for us to make deposits. This will most probably be when they realise that the smear campaign will have little or no effect that people nowadays don't really listen to half the crap they are fed.
The only way that i have managed to find are sites a little like ebay where they match buyers and sellers. That the sellers are vetted, again how this actually works i am not too sure. Apparently i have heard that some banks have ring fenced some bank transfers as being 'fraudulent' and that people have had their accounts frozen while they 'investigate'
There seems to be so much ambiguity with everything involving crypto currency yet the industry seems to be booming. I find this quite incredible considering how behind the implementation is. It's about the potential, there is so much potential and everyone actively involved in it know that it can't really be stopped. It seems like the technology, ideas and creativity are there. To implement even the most simple ideas takes time and experience, the only way to gain experience is to actually do it whilst maintaining the confidence of the investors.
This would be why i experienced difficulties withdrawing fiat today. Who know's what the problems are, personally i believe that they have all been cleaned out. I'll try to speak to the company tomorrow so that i can provide more information, hopefully i'll be able to arrange a meeting to find out more. It seems like there is a general consensus amongst the corporations to obstruct crypto to fiat in order to delegitimise against a 'legitimate' fiat backed up against thin air. I believe it's only a matter of time before the banks will have to cooperate, they will realise that the desire is there and once we find ways to increase the legitimacy they will have to get involved. In the mean time the sooner the ATM's work the better