[icebraining]

Ordinary ATMs have economies of scale not available to Bitcoin ATMs, from simply making bigger purchases to distributing fixed costs (like software development). It's also a much safer business - you can be relatively sure the dollar economy won't crash tomorrow and kill your business.

[scott_karana]

I'm not sure about this. Since Bitcoin ATMs still dispense cash, why not just retrofit the same hardware?

Hell, why aren't people paying the smaller ATM companies to make custom ones? It's not like banks don't already get custom-shaped ATMs made for them.

[icebraining]

Since Bitcoin ATMs still dispense cash, why not just retrofit the same hardware?

You can use the same hardware, but when you're buying 10s instead of 1000s of them, it'll probably cost you a lot more per unit. At least that's how it works for most manufactured goods.

[scott_karana]

For sure. But a 400% difference is not usual for bulk purchases.