TOOL / SPREAD
Bitcoin ATM Spread Checker
Standing at the machine, before you press confirm, work out what this is really costing you. The market price comes from a public feed; you copy two numbers off the screen.
The fee shown on the machine doesn't include the margin built into its exchange rate. That part has to be worked backwards to — which takes one division.
How to use it: run the machine's process as far as the confirmation screen, without inserting cash. Copy two numbers. Either group below works.
Some machines display a unit price directly. If yours does, this is the quickest route.
— or —
Copy every decimal place.
Both numbers have to be in the same currency. The feed gives a US dollar price. If the machine in front of you quotes Australian dollars — or any other currency — switch to manual below and enter the market price in that currency, otherwise the percentage means nothing.
Fill in either group above and this calculates.
The market price is fetched from Binance's public price endpoint; if that can't be reached the tool switches to manual entry rather than falling back to any stored figure. The percentage shown is the total markup — it includes both the posted fee and the spread that isn't posted, which is why it comes out higher than the number on the machine. All arithmetic happens locally in your browser.
Why option two is the more reliable one
Because the cash amount and the coin amount both have to appear on any confirmation screen, whereas a separately displayed rate might not exist, or might be a pre-fee reference figure.
Cash divided by coins gives what you are actually paying per bitcoin, with the service fee already inside it. That is closer to the truth than any rate the machine chooses to display.
Reading the result
| Total markup | Roughly means |
|---|---|
| under 8% | Below the usual range — check you used the final screen |
| 8% – 15% | Within the usual range, still far above an exchange |
| above 15% | High; worth comparing another operator if one is nearby |
That table is for orientation only. A high fee doesn't mean a machine is illegitimate — the cost structure genuinely is expensive. It tells you whether this transaction is good value for you, which is a different question.
After you have the number
- Happy with it? Carry on — but check the first and last characters of the receiving address before confirming.
- Not happy? Nothing has been spent yet. As long as no cash has gone in, walking away costs nothing at all.
- Want to know what the alternative saves? The calculator puts both routes side by side.
If someone sent you here
Then this tool isn't the one you need — the issue isn't the price, it's that the payment shouldn't happen. Answer the three questions first.
Common questions
How do I calculate a bitcoin ATM's hidden spread?
Divide the cash you are putting in by the amount of bitcoin the screen says you will receive. That gives the machine's real price per bitcoin with the service fee already included. Compare it against the current market price in the same currency, and the percentage difference is the total markup covering both the posted fee and the undisclosed spread.
Why is the result higher than the fee shown on the machine?
Because the cost has two layers. The posted fee is the disclosed one, while the quoted exchange rate carries an additional margin that is never itemised and is folded into the coin amount before you see it. Any figure calculated backwards from that amount will therefore exceed the posted percentage.
My machine quotes Australian dollars. Can I still use this?
Yes, but switch the market price to manual entry first. The live feed supplies a US dollar price, and comparing an Australian dollar quote against it produces a meaningless figure. Enter the market price in the same currency the machine is using and the calculation works normally.
When should I use this?
At the machine, once you have reached the confirmation screen but before inserting any cash. Most machines display the fee and the coin amount before taking money, and backing out at that point costs nothing. Once notes are inside they cannot be returned, so the check has to happen first.
Is the market price real?
Yes. It is fetched from Binance's public price endpoint when the page loads. If that request fails the tool switches to a manual input field for you to type a price yourself; it never falls back to a stored or hard-coded number.
The range guide comes from Coincub's August 2026 analysis; the price mechanism is documented in the Binance public market API. This tool only does arithmetic, uploads nothing, and defers to the kiosk's final screen.