First bitcoin ATMs expected in Greece this fall

Fans of cyber currency see way of circumventing capital controls

After memoranda, capital controls, days of closed banks and … six months of Yanis Varoufakis, it was bound to happen: expected bitcoin ATMs in Greece come autumn!

According to the founder of BTCGreece, Thanos Marinos, a “soft launch” is scheduled for October.

“It is part of my vision to create a block chain ecosystem in Greece,” Marinos told CNBC on Wednesday. “If all goes as expected with no major issues we will launch first ATMs October 2015.”

CNBC describes Bitcoin as a decentralized digital currency that can be used around the world, where transactions are listed in a shared public ledger called the block chain.

The digital currency was touted as one way to to circumvent Greek capital controls. These have been in place since June and limit holders of bank accounts in Greek banks to withdrawing a maximum of 60 euros per day.

Of course, web-banking has thrived in the meantime, although bank transfers overseas are mostly restricted.

The ATMs envisaged by Marinos could allow users to convert fiat currency into bitcoin and potentially vice versa.

Marinos told CNBC that he has already received requests from 300 shops for bitcoin ATMs.

Bitcoin ATMs have already been installed in other countries, predominately in the United States and western European countries like Britain, the Netherlands and Spain.