“Is anyone here not a reporter?” shouted a cameraman as a throng of news teams converged around the world’s first Bitcoin ATM machine, regarding it like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, the first automated receiver and distributor of the digital currency Bitcoin went live today, creating an early-morning media swarm followed by a steady stream of Bitcoin enthusiasts eager to try out the machine.
The honor of being the world’s (and likely the universe’s) first Bitcoin ATM user went to Victoria Hansen, who under the camera lights and the beaming grin of her boyfriend used the machine at around 9 a.m. “I bought $200 worth of Bitcoin,” she told Daily Intelligencer. “It’s really simple: You scan your hand, and you get a receipt.”
