THE MACHINE ON THE CORNER

How far is that screen from the real price?

The fee printed on the machine is only the first layer. The exchange rate it quotes you carries a second one, and that one is never spelled out. Type in the price you are looking at and see what the two of them add up to.

01Price shown on the machine USD / BTC

02Market price right now Loading… Binance public price feed

03What this machine takes Fill in 01 and this works itself out

OUR REFERRAL CODE BN0112

Any referral benefit is whatever the sign-up page shows^*

Run the whole sum →

^* Whether a benefit applies, and its rate, is whatever the exchange's sign-up page currently shows. We are not an exchange and never handle your money.

READ THIS FIRST

No government agency, police force, court, tax office, utility, delivery company or legitimate business will ever ask you to pay using a bitcoin ATM. If you are walking towards one because of a phone call or a text message, answer three questions first, or run the before-you-pay checklist.

01 — START HERE

Four long ones, enough to understand the machine

If you only have time for one, read the first. It is the reason this site exists.

01 What bitcoin ATMs really cost The posted fee, plus the spread nobody prints. How to work out the real number while you are standing there. long read 02 How to use one, and every trap along the way Wallet to receipt, with the two steps you cannot undo marked in red. long read 03 Why scammers send you to a bitcoin ATM Tax office, police, a grandchild in trouble — different scripts, same last scene. long read 04 The one thing the machine does that nothing else does Where it genuinely wins, what that wins costs, and why most people still shouldn't. long read

02 — TOOLS

Five small tools that put the numbers on the table

All of them run inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored or logged.

T1 Spread checker Two numbers off the screen, and you have the real markup. live price feed T2 ATM vs exchange calculator Same cash, two routes, how much bitcoin each one leaves you. calculator T3 Should I use this machine Four questions, one blunt answer. decision T4 Before you pay: scam checklist Tick what matches your situation and see what lands. checklist T5 Read your receipt, line by line Which lines matter when something goes wrong. diagram

03 — FIND YOUR SITUATION

Which one are you

Standing at the machine, cash still in your pocket

→Work out what this will actually takeBoth layers, pulled apart →How much can I put throughThe AU$5,000 cap and what sits on top of it →Will I need IDMore than you used to, and why →Should I be here at allA very short list

Someone sent you here

→Answer three questions firstWho sent you, whose address, why now →What the script looks likeFive acts, and where it always ends →The machine itself might be tampered withStickers, fake screens, helpful strangers →Someone asked me to do it for themWhy you are the one on camera

Already paid, waiting or regretting

→It says complete but nothing arrivedWhere the wait comes from →Can I get a refundTwo separate reasons why not →I still have the receiptWho to contact and what to expect →Can I turn it back into cashTwo-way machines, and one problem you can't check

Just trying to understand the thing

→The whole process, start to finishMachine types, every step, every trap →Why the fees are so highCash logistics, floor rent, compliance →Machine or exchangeCost, speed, limits, verification →Is there one near meWhat the map tools get wrong →The one case that holds upWhere it wins, and the price of that win →If you skip the machine: opening an accountThe wait, identity check and first purchase

04 — WHERE WE STAND

We don't think most people should use these machines

This is not a site about how convenient they are. Most of what is written about bitcoin ATMs is either operator marketing that only mentions the speed, or news coverage that only mentions the losses. Very few people put the posted fee and the hidden exchange-rate margin together and show you the total, which is the one number you actually need.

Australia is a useful place to write about this from. AUSTRAC said the network had reached about 2,000 machines when it reported on the sector in late 2025, and operators work under an AU$5,000 cash cap per transaction, mandatory scam warnings and tighter identity checks. Those rules exist for a reason, and that reason is worth understanding before you feed anything into one.

The machine does have one genuine advantage that nothing else offers, and we say so plainly in the closing piece. How this site pays for itself, and whether that changes what we write, is set out in the disclosure.