What happened
The bellwether meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin ( DOGE 5.71% ) was on the rise Wednesday, in contrast to the sagging S&P 500 index of stocks. The coin was enjoying a 4% lift as of late this afternoon, a rate that topped the effectively sideways-moving Bitcoin ( BTC 0.38% ) and Ethereum, plus the slight rise of its rival meme token Shiba Inu.
So what
Dogecoin’s upward move seems to be tied to its sudden appearance in ATMs. Wednesday morning, privately held fintech company Bitcoin of America announced that the token had been added to its Bitcoin ATMs (or BTMs, as the company likes to abbreviate them).
Image source: Getty Images.
While this doesn’t exactly make Dogecoin an instant star utility currency, it does significantly ramp up access to the token. Bitcoin of America says it has installed over 1,800 BTMs throughout this country, covering 31 states.
As their name implies, those machines also offer transactions in Bitcoin. Ethereum and Litecoin are also accessible through the devices.
The current-generation Bitcoin of America BTMs are called “universal kiosks” by the company. These allow for traditional ATM transactions through a customer’s debit card. In the crypto sphere, users can buy or sell the offered cryptocurrencies for cash.
Now what
While inclusion as an option in the Bitcoin of America cryptocurrency machines can’t be considered a major breakthrough for Dogecoin, it’s certainly a win. Any move that expands access to a cryptocurrency is beneficial for that coin. On top of that, such a move helps legitimize a token as an effective instrument of financial transactions, burnishing its reputation at least a little bit.
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