5 in my city. i had no idea but the exchange rate and fees seem like a big rip off.

Yea I wasn't fully sure what you meant. I do not disagree with you though, gold is different in terms of being physical but crypto currency is still something that can be traded. I don't know how this crypto revolution will pan out but times are interesting and I know people that makes sick money off it.

I'm curious what are the exchange rates and fees like ?

The way I see it Bitcoin ATM's are one of the major ways to get Crypto flowing. As has been suggested it's damn hard to get hold of unless you get paid in it which is fantasy at the moment.
LocalBitCoins still seems like an option and although it's fees are a bit high it does enable you to get bitcoin for cash. Same as an ATM.

Yes, I found one 45 minutes from where I live in a mall. I recognize where it is at next to the food court. I read a review of the location but nothing about how much fee was to convert dollars to BTC. It's pretty much of a novelty though. Most experienced people wouldn't bother with an ATM. Even to use it requires knowledge of how a wallet works so there is still a learning curve. But at least someone can purchase BTC on the spot.

think of it a bit like paypal... back in 2001 - 2002 or so when I got online I was selling shit on ebay (also nothing compared to what it is today). Paypal was a few hoops to jump through, you had to wrap your brain around it slightly if you weren't used to an online payment provider, link your bank account, and so on. Even now, you can't open a paypal account "with basically no computer knowledge". Thing is though, we are heading toward a world where "...basically no computer knowledge" is going to be an obsolete phrase.

btc: link your 'bank account' = your btc wallet

so where you'd set up a bank account (to link to paypal) = set up a 'bank account' called a wallet at blockchain.info

from there it's as easy as going to localbitcoins.com and buying whatever $ amount of btc you want from a seller (as with any seller on or offline you check their credentials ie their feedback), once they release into your localbitcoins.com account you transfer it to your main 'bank account' ie blockchain.info btc wallet (think of it as sort code and account number).

I can understand a 70 year old woman not getting how to buy btc, but your post - and no offence - shows that you haven't even done 5 minutes of research into how to buy a bitcoin, so are dismissing the whole thing based on your own lack of reading. It might well crash and die a painful death, but not because you don't know how to buy some :2 cents:

sell sell sell!

So many investment funds were waiting to invest billions in bitcoins after ETF approval. That never happened, the ETF was denied. But they still could not sit back and watch as all this $$ was being made, they are dumping into Bitcoin and altcoins as we speak.

Sell? helllllll no! hold hold, buy buy!!!!

you would be surprised at how many people do not know how to use it...during the 90-s my country was under embargo, no money could go in or out so I relied heavily on stuff like evocash/egold/1mdc/liberty reserve etc...these were even easier to fund than bitcoin but the bottom line was: most customers do not care to invest 5 min in research...using offshore CC processing and paypal my sales went up 10x...

nah.... I am under no illusions that most people don't know how to use it - like you said, most people don't want to spend 5 minutes (if they are someone who has worked online for years), or 20 minutes - I am truly a tech idiot, I cannot overstate that, yet a tiny bit of research a year or two ago let me buy some btc fairly easily.

My comparison with paypal was: in the early days most people could not be bothered to spend that same 5 minutes... yet that didn't stop paypal from becoming what it is. I'm not saying btc WILL become that; but it won't fail because a webmaster, or some grandma, wasn't up to speed with it and/or how to source some :thumbsup

This is still the very early stages of crypto-currency, we may feel it's been around a long time as webmasters, and being fairly up to date with things like this, but this is one of those ground floor things... whether it'll be btc or another format/development (likely), banking won't be the same in 20 years time as it is now. The question is, how do we profit currently. The answer is not: by not even taking 5 minutes to see where to buy some btc then dismissing the whole 'crazy notion' as a lot here seem to be doing.

Today some hours ago bitcoin value passed the historic mark of $2000.

Sitting now @

$2050.79

Only 19 days ago I mentioned the earlier price of $1492 which then I believe also was a new record hit.

I might sound like a dinosaur but I rather just keep my money in an actual offshore Singapore account. US gov't and those ass clowns in Revenue Canada can only stare and they probably know the money is there away from their tax greedy hands but at the end of the day, they can't touch it :)

If you invest wisely, you can live off the interest you earn from your principle amount. That's what I am doing, easy peasy and I don't have to worry about bitcoin being hacked tomorrow or whatever and my money disappearing. I don't see people with money emptying their bank accounts to buy bitcoin, sorry I just don't....I know I could hop on the "bitcoin gravy train" but why take an unnecessary risk. It's all about risk management, I rather go with the safe bet than an uncertain one...

If you keep your bitcoin secure.

As in you are the bank...

Then Bitcoin is certain. Their is no risk.