A gas station advertising the presence of a bitcoin ATM. Reuters

Gulf Today Report 

In far-flung corners of shops, gas stations, delis across US; is a brightly-lit bitcoin ATM, where customers can buy or sell digital currency, and sometimes extract hard cash.

Over the past year, the machines have sprung up across the United States due to the frenzy surrounding crypto trading that sent bitcoin prices over $58,000.

Kiosk operators such as CoinFlip and Coin Cloud have installed thousands of ATMs, scouring areas competitors have not yet reached, executives said.

"I just assumed there was demand and people wanted bitcoin everywhere," said Quad Coin founder Mark Shoiket. 

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As of January, there were 28,185 bitcoin ATMs in the United States, according to an independent research site. Roughly 10,000 came within the prior five months.

Some machines only spit out bitcoin, some allow customers to invest in other digital currencies. Few of the bitcoin ATMs offer cash.

Fees range from 6% to 20% of a total transaction, said Pamela Clegg, director of financial investigations and education at cryptocurrency compliance firm CipherTrace. Fees vary depending on the location and Bitcoin ATM operator.