TOOL / DECIDE
Should I Use This Bitcoin ATM?
Four questions, one blunt answer. It will often tell you not to, or tell you to stop entirely — that is deliberate, because most people genuinely shouldn't be standing at one.
Four questions. Answer the last one and a verdict appears underneath.
Answer all four and a verdict appears here.
All of this runs locally in your browser. Your answers are not uploaded anywhere and are not stored.
How it decides
Five rules, checked in order, first match wins. You have a right to know what a tool is basing its answer on.
- Question one answered "someone told me" — output stop, immediately, ahead of everything else. In that situation the issue isn't value for money, it's that the payment shouldn't happen at all.
- No bank account — output that the machine may be your only option. This is the genuinely irreplaceable case.
- Larger amount — output use an exchange. Limits will obstruct you and multiple trips repeat the fee each time.
- A real deadline — output you can, but do the sum first.
- None of the above — output use an exchange, because the premium is buying you nothing you need.
Disagree with one of those rules? Then override it. It's your money.
Why the answer is so often "don't"
Because on the arithmetic it usually is. A machine's total cost commonly exceeds 15% to 20%; a mainstream exchange charges under 1%. Convenience doesn't cover a gap that size.
It won't always say no, though. Rules two and four both produce "go ahead", because in those cases the machine is supplying something real and unavailable elsewhere. The closing piece works through that in full.
Common questions
What is this decision based on?
Five rules checked in order. Being sent by someone else produces an immediate stop; having no bank account means the machine may be the only option; a large amount points to an exchange because of limits and repeated fees; a genuine deadline means proceed but check the cost first; anything else points to an exchange. The rules are printed on the page so you can judge them yourself.
Why does saying someone sent me stop everything?
Because it is the most consistent feature of impersonation scams. A genuine decision to buy cryptocurrency starts with you, whereas these scams always begin with an unexpected call, message or pop-up. At that point cost is irrelevant — the payment itself is the problem.
Are my answers recorded?
No. Everything is evaluated inside your own browser, nothing is sent to a server and nothing is written to storage. This site runs no analytics, and this page makes no external requests at all.
This gives general guidance based on cost and suitability. It is not financial, legal or tax advice, and the decision remains yours. None of your answers are collected or uploaded.