El Salvador has lost its position as Australia’s fourth largest cryptocurrency ATM hub.

2023 is a promising year for crypto ATMs

Australia has made a sudden shift after installing 99 crypto ATMs across the country in the last quarter of 2022. As of the time of publishing this article, Australia has 216 active crypto ATMs.

El Salvador has been pushing for mass cryptocurrency adoption, becoming the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Since this milestone achievement, the Nayib Bukele-led government has made great strides in promoting crypto-centric payment methods. As of September 2021, there are now more than 200 cryptocurrency ATMs in different locations in the country.

Prior to this, El Salvador ranked third, behind only the United States and Canada, as the country with the most cryptocurrency ATMs on the planet.

In October, the ranking changed, with Spain in third place with 215 digital asset ATMs installed, and as 2023 begins, this number increases to 226, replacing El Salvador, which now lags behind Australia again. Australia is ahead of El Salvador with only 7 ATMs, a number that could sooner or later be overturned by the disapproving faction if Australia pauses its progress.

Australia’s ATM count accounts for 0.6% of the total ATMs installed worldwide. The country is on track to achieve its goal of reaching 3,000 ATMs by 2027.

Crypto ATM installations hit record high

According to CoinAtmRadar, an online analytics company that tracks the number of crypto ATMs installed worldwide, crypto ATMs are at an all-time high of nearly 40,000 machines. Data shows that this number has been growing significantly and steadily since 2018. 2022 saw the highest number, despite the ongoing “crypto winter” and impending political sanctions that could affect the crypto world following the FTX debacle.

With decentralized finance growing exponentially, mass adoption of crypto payments is more urgent than ever. Several companies now accept cryptocurrency payment plans, including chart provider and analytics platform Trading View, and Mastercard is one of the giant companies pioneering crypto payments.

The payment processor has been in the headlines recently after forming alliances with companies like BitOasis to promote crypto payment systems around the world.