The first Bitcoin ATM installed in a public space appeared in 2013.
A Robocoin machine opened on October 29, 2013, at the Waves coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Canada. It allowed customers to exchange Canadian dollars for Bitcoin, making cryptocurrency access available through a recognizable physical kiosk rather than only through online exchanges. The installation was organized by Bitcoiniacs and is widely regarded as the world's first Bitcoin ATM.
The year is sometimes confused with 2014 because the first Bitcoin ATM in the United States opened in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in February 2014. Europe’s first machine followed in Bratislava, Slovakia, in December 2013. Those milestones describe regional launches, not the first public Bitcoin ATM worldwide.
Bitcoin ATMs do not store coins as cash inside the machine. They typically connect a customer's payment to a digital wallet, and later models often added identity checks, sell-back functions, or support for multiple cryptocurrencies.