Bitcoin ATM questions

LibertyX has changed their policy and requires more identity validation. I have since been looking for another way of acquiring bitcoins anonymously. There is a Bitcoin ATM relatively close to me. The machine is called "Lamassu" it is located in a mall. The website says it has a $3,000 limit, and says you scan your bitcoin wallet QR code, deposit money, and then it sends the coins. It does not say you have to validate your identity.

Does anyone have any experience with these ATMs? And what precautions would you recommend. Thanks


Comments


[2 Points] NightSymphony:

Electrum gives you QR codes, in tails i would recommend takeing a screenshot of the QR code and printing it out on paper, then let the ATM scan the code from paper rather than carrying around some digital data of the QR code, i personally would burn the paper and reprint for each use.


[2 Points] deguppyusel:

I have used this ATM before. I think the camera is because they have had some troubles with the machine accepting counterfeit money.


[2 Points] DNMLibertarian:

There is one in my town, Kind of in the more run down part of town. Attempted to use it and they wanted ID, the guy said he's just supposed to write my info down and throw it away after 30 days, I acted like I left my wallet at home and have never been back.


[1 Points] bankofmynuts:

I have used an ATM before to buy BTC. The ATM in my area had a camera. It requires you to sign up for an account (essentially you are putting money into an exchange, like Coinbase/Circle). The camera was part of the registration process and it required a pic of myself as well as a pic of my ID (driver's license).

The camera was cheap and it took shitty pictures; you can even place your finger on the lens and the ATM won't know the difference. The picture of myself was literally 90% my forehead. There's no way to verify it. So the built-in camera and that process was not really sketchy.

What was sketchy was buying BTC required a cell phone number - I had to verify it through a pin they sent through SMS aka text message. It was a dry run, but I seriously did not expect to have to use a cell phone; I thought it was going to be arcade style and I just needed to set up an account and give an e-mail address. Nope lol.

And the place where the ATM was located was also sketchy. It was a restaurant / bar (definitely cameras), and in a pretty affluent area. I'm not going to give too much info about the neighborhood for OPSEC reasons, let's just say there's definitely hardware equipment on the light poles in the street blocks surrounding the restaurant that were watching and listening. I'm also kind of a prettyboy and it's not like there was a fucking line for the ATM, so when I was buying the BTC I was far from invisible. Didn't help the whole thing took like ~15 minutes (I kept fucking up because the SMS text verification took so damn long to reach my phone and I kept starting over lol; didn't help I was drunk either).

Basically from that one single experience, from a "staying in the darkness" perspective, it's really the physical location that you have to worry about. Yes the mall has cameras, but at least people are walking around. In the restaurant where I was at people were all sitting down.

For the record, and this is purely my opinion, it is really the vendors (the ones who have to turn the BTC into fiat currency) who really have to worry about breaking the chain (obfuscating their trail on the blockchain). I understand though. Here's my advice if you're really worried and want to buy BTC from the ATM's (and keep in mind I'm assuming the process will be the same as the one I described above, always do a dry/practice run to make sure and adjust accordingly):

Good luck brother.