Bitcoin at Porcfest, Part 4: Interview with Lamassu's Josh Harvey
Lamassu's Bitcoin ATM has proven to be a critical piece of Porcfest infrastructure this year. The machine, which allows anyone to insert bills, scan their receiving address and immediately receive bitcoins at a 1% fee, has sold over 16 BTC in the first three days of the event, and its popularity is only growing as the number of participants ramps up. But....
Related News
Startup Lamassu makes bitcoin ATMs that take in cash and exchange it on the spot for bitcoin. The company was started by Zach Harvey, Josh Harvey and Matt Whitlock just one year ago and, despite regulatory challenges in various locations, more than 200 people have bought Lamassu machines and are working to put them into operation all over the world. CoinDesk sat down with Zach Harvey at CoinSummit to discuss the machine's roll-out, Whitlock's departure and the bitcoin ATM's true potential. Brothers and co-founders Zach and Josh Harvey with a Lamassu ATM. CoinDesk: How many Lamassu ATMs....
Lamassu's Bitcoin Machine isn't exactly a Bitcoin ATM -- instead, it's designed to enable one-way exchanges only: cash to bitcoins. But, for now, that's good enough in a world where changing fiat currency into the digital stuff is still a complicated, circuitous process that's not easily available to everyone. "(T)he core intention is to simplify obtaining bitcoins," says Zach Harvey, one of the three people behind Lamassu Bitcoin Ventures, which plans to roll out the machines starting this summer. The other two founders are Zach's brother, Josh Harvey, and Matt Whitlock, a network....
In 2012, Josh Harvey made a post on the Bitcointalk forum with the following title: "Porcfest 2012: Biggest Bitcoin Event Ever." Porcfest is one of two annual summits hosted by the Free State Project, a libertarian movement in New Hampshire with over 1,000 active participants, most of whom moved to the state to take part. The event is a week-long gathering on a campsite in northern New Hampshire, and every day is filled with a collection of liberty-themed panel discussions, music and games, and throughout the week there is a marketplace called Agora Valley, where merchants typically accept....
Lamassu has announced it will begin charging monthly subscription fees to pay for tech support and software upgrades. While the service is not mandatory, Lamassu said that it will no longer offer free support to customers after the start date. The actual fees required depend on the number of machines owned by an operator. For those who own between one and four machines, the monthly cost will be $100 per unit while charges for those who own between five and nine machines will be $90 per unit. Operators who run more than 10 ATMs will pay $80 per unit. In interview, Lamassu CEO and co-founder....
Lamassu, the maker of a bitcoin ATM, are now taking pre-orders for the ATM which was demonstrated at the Bitcoin London conference. The ATM is designed to scan a QR code of customers' wallets and accept a bank note. Zach Harvey, one of Lamassu's partners, told us: "We're very excited about beginning to accept pre-orders and moving closer and closer to shipping the Bitcoin Machines around the world. The idea now is the same as when we first started this project, to make Bitcoin more accessible to the masses". In terms of demand for the ATM, Harvey told us that there have been 150 enquiries....