Capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina gets its first Bitcoin ATM despite lack of regulation

Although the country’s official stance on the cryptocurrency industry is still unknown, and a bill is yet to be drafted to regulate it, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently received its first crypto ATM where individuals can purchase and sell Bitcoin (BTC).

As it happens, Sarajevo has gotten its first Bitcoin ATM installed in the city’s center, while the country’s cryptocurrency holders and other interested parties are still waiting for the related legislation, according to the report published by the local media outlet RadioSarajevo on February 7.

Crypto regulation woes

Indeed, Bosnian legislators have been dragging their feet around introducing a crypto bill, the drafting of which has been promised over two years ago, as domestic crypto traders and Bitcoin miners are facing severe challenges in carrying out their activities, including withdrawing their money from crypto exchanges.

According to the position of the Banking Agency of the country’s entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time:

“Crypto use and operations are not regulated by the current legislation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The issue of using digital money and cryptocurrencies presents a particular challenge in other regulated financial systems, except in cases when central banks issue cryptocurrencies.”

In the meantime, crypto users in Sarajevo can utilize the recently installed ATM to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Tether (USDT). This ATM has become the third device of its kind to be installed in the country, the other two already present in the cities of Banja Luka and Gradiska, according to the latest data retrieved from Coin ATM Radar on February 8.

The Sarajevo ATM was installed by the Polish company Shitcoins.club, which had earlier placed the Bitcoin ATM in Banja Luka. As for the one in Gradiška, it was introduced by the crypto ATM manufacturer General Bytes based in Prague, Czech Republic.

Global crypto ATM market

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 crypto ATMs were installed in 2022, despite the overall bearish markets dominating the year, as their number stood at 38,405 as of February 8, 2023, as per the Coin ATM Radar historical chart.

At the same time, the global crypto ATM market size is expected to grow in the coming years, as a study indicated that it is set to expand 61.7% by 2030, projecting it to hit a valuation of $5.45 billion, as Finbold reported on December 7, 2022.