Bitcoin Kiosks in Walmart: Why It Could Mean So Much More.
Exploring the accessibility of crypto
A big announcement came out this weekend that Walmart has partnered with Coinme to offer Coinme’s Bitcoin(BTC) kiosks in over 200 stores across the United States. This is the first major retailer to begin offering the kiosks, although there are smaller chains that already do, like Winn-Dixie.
Why does this matter?
Because it again proves the accessibility of crypto and the potential it has to have a radical power shift in the market. First, crypto offers benefits the stock market doesn’t, like being able to trade 24/7.
The kiosks from Coinme allow anyone to buy Bitcoin with cash at a local Walmart. You don’t need a broker. You don’t need a bank account. That means someone with essentially no financial records can purchase digital currencies that has potential to grow their wealth. You certainly can’t walk into a store with $5 and buy a stock, mutual fund, bond, etc.
Now it’s not that simple, there are still fees associated with a trade and, currently, Coinme requires you create an account beforehand, which does require things like a social security number. However, their could be a future where this isn’t a requirement and maybe you can at least, create an account on spot at the Coinme kiosk.
Pew Research found that upper-income Americans were about 5x’s as likely to own stocks as lower-income Americans. The financial literacy gap in America is very real. Putting a kiosk in Walmart isn’t going to fix it, but could it start something?
By just walking into the local Walmart, where likely a lot of shopping is done, people are being exposed to crypto and exposed to these concepts. This can influence consumers to take interest in the space and as we watch digital currencies grow, could we see more lower-income americans involved?
Now I’m not an expert in this space. This is my initial thoughts after hearing the news and a few quick google searches. I think as a whole, the crypto community should continue to find ways to unify and continue to make this as accessible as possible.
