200 Bitcoin ATMs installed at Walmart … with an overall plan of 8,000

Walmart has partnered with coin operated machine company Coinstar and cryptocurrency exchange CoinMe to install 200 Bitcoin ATMs in its stores in the United States.

While the test only covers 200 kiosks, a wider roll-out is planned, according to Bloomberg, to eventually see the installation of 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs across the country. Further details on the schedule are not yet available.

There are currently more than 25,000 Bitcoin ATMs in select grocery stores and gas stations across the United States, according to Coin ATM Radar. Coinstar operates 4,400 Bitcoin-enabled kiosks in 33 states.

BitOoda Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Research Sam Doctor told Bloomberg that while Bitcoin ATMs are not a new development, they can already be found in many supermarkets:

“However, Walmart is expanding Bitcoin access to more people and giving skeptics even more legitimacy should they use it beyond an initial pilot project.”

Customers can use a Bitcoin ATM by inserting paper money and receiving a paper voucher with a redemption code. To redeem the code, customers will need to set up a Coinme account and run a background check. Users cannot withdraw Bitcoin from their accounts without there being plans to offer this functionality in the near future.

Bitcoin ATMs have an 11% surcharge that includes a 4% charge for the bitcoin option plus an additional 7% charge for currency exchange.

For comparison: the popular crypto trading platforms Binance and Coinbase charge between 3% and 4.5% and 3.99% for debit and credit card purchases, respectively. Free direct deposit from your bank account to your Binance or Coinbase wallet.

The news was hailed as a sign of mainstream acceptance by some, including influencer Lark Davis who said “Wal Mart is selling” Bitcoin now … cool! However, other users complained about the high fees.

“BTC ATM fees are notoriously high and the ‘current’ BTC price is always higher when buying and lower when selling,” Datcyberguy tweeted on the message.

“It’s a scam, but at least a sign of acceptance – they believe some people might want enough BTC to pay the high fees,” commented Reddit user Axatar.

Related: Bitcoin Depot crypto ATMs top 5,000 as adoption grows

This isn’t the first sign of interest Walmart has shown in the crypto world. In August, the retail giant announced that it was looking for a crypto product to advance the company’s digital currency strategy. The job posting was later removed from the Walmart website, but an ad for the job remains on LinkedIn.

Walmart China has also partnered with blockchain-based supply chain management platform VeChain for product tracking.

However, there is some skepticism about bitcoin ATM news that came to the fore after a fake press release from Walmart in September announcing a partnership with Litecoin (LTC). The short-lived hoax caused the price of altcoins to rise by more than 20%.