Finland’s Largest Shopping Centre Itis Gets Its First Bitcoin ATM

Leading Finland-based bitcoin companies Bittiraha.fi and Bitcoinkaupat.com on Thursday opened the first Bitcoin ATM on the second floor of the Itis shopping centre in East Helsinki, CoinTelegraph reported.

"Itis is one of the highest profile locations possible where you can install a Bitcoin ATM,” wrote Bitcoinkaupat.com's Aleksi Vitakoski in the official press release. “If my hunch is right, this will be a big step in making Helsinki the Bitcoin capital of Europe."

Both companies hope for more merchants to start accepting the digital currency in the close by area with the opening of the new Bitcoin ATM.

Bitcoinkaupat.com was founded only last year and became the leading provider of Bitcoin payment services in Finland offering services for easy and risk-free integration of Bitcoin Payments for both large and small companies, as reported by CoinTelegraph.

Bittiraha.fi is also a major Bitcoin service provider in the country with Bitcoin transactions totalling nearly 1 million euro per month. It offers digital currency buy and sell option via bank transfers, as well as bill and wage payments with bitcoins.

Henry Brade, a Founder of Bittiraha.fi., told CoinTelegraph that the new BTM is the 2nd two-way machine in Bittiraha.fi network and they have additional 7 one-way machines. Their first 2-way BTM was installed in the most popular mall in Finland – Kamppi in December 2014.

“We are soon going to install one more one-way in Northern Finland which will make our whole network 10 BTM's,” Brade added. “The biggest challenge is getting major malls and other high level locations to take a Bitcoin ATM. Lots of work. As there is still so much Bitcoin skepticism going around. We probably get five "hell no's" before we get one neutral answer. And then only some of the neutral's go all the way to contract stage. But on a positive note, it has been getting A LOT better.”