DigitalX, Stargroup team up to develop “Two-way” Bitcoin ATMs
The two companies will jointly offer and tailor “Two-way” ATMs for buying and selling Bitcoin.
A large-scale Bitcoin ATM roll-out in Australia is seen as a commercial opportunity by blockchain technology company DigitalX Ltd (ASX:DCC) and its newest partner Stargroup Ltd (ASX:STL). The companies have today announced the signing of a joint venture agreement that will see them jointly offer and tailor a “Two-way ATM” solution for buying and selling Bitcoin.
The joint venture agreement covers the entire global network of Stargroup ATMs but the initial roadmap will focus on Australia. DigitalX notes in its press release that the majority of Bitcoin ATMs currently deployed in Australia are “One-way ATMs”, meaning that they enable users to only acquire Bitcoin and add it to their Bitcoin wallet via the ATM. The “Two-way ATMs” allow for these operations but also enable users to instantly convert their Bitcoin to AUD cash.
Stargroup will be developing the ATM software for the two-way ATM Bitcoin transaction, whereas DigitalX will be responsible for the development of an API to facilitate the Bitcoin transactions with the ATM software.
Within Australia, Stargroup has deployed about 500 ATMs in Star Payments and manages approximately 2,400 ATMs via StarLink. It also has an ownership interest in NeoICP Korea, a company which manufactures ATMs. NeoICP Korea have approximately 16,000 ATMs and back office machines in South Korea.
The collaboration with Stargroup is another step made by DigitalX in enlarging its business portfolio. Last week, the company announced a partnership with Bankera to provide it with consultancy services. DigitalX will act as an advisor to Bankera’s initial coin offering (ICO), which is a part of Bankera’s plan to build a digital bank for the Blockchain era. Earlier this year – in April, DigitalX announced a collaboration with professional software developer Lateral. The main goal of the collaboration is the creation of Blockchain and distributed ledger products for large enterprises in Australia and a number of regions in Asia.
A strategic partnership with Blockchain Global was unveiled in June, which saw Blockchain Global and associated investors agree to pump $4.35 million to acquire an interest of around 40% in DigitalX.
