Robocoin came on the spot last year with the debut of their first bitcoin ATM in a downtown Vancouver coffee shop. It was on of the world’s first two-way bitcoin ATMs (if not the), and the company has grown immensely since then.
And in the time that’s passed, a number of competitors have arisen looking to do much the same. There’s GenesisCoin out of California, BitAccess out of Ottawa, and more.
So how does one set itself apart?
Well, in the case of Robocoin, it comes in the form of the 2.0 version of their product, more fashionably called Robocoin Bank.
The Las Vegas-based company announced this expansion of services in early May with the firm intent on converting their existing network of bitcoin ATMs around the world into bitcoin remittence branches. It’s a clever idea, and one that sets them apart from their competition, but until now, we haven’t quite gotten a good understanding of how the system works.
Here’s a teaser video of the Robocoin Bank platform:
[ot-video type=”youtube” url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAV_POzrKAM”]
Demonstrated (quoted from an email I received from Robocoin this morning):
- Instantly deposit (buy bitcoin) and withdraw (sell bitcoin) from a Robocoin Account – cash and bitcoin balances adjust in real time. Robocoin Accounts are the first truly instantaneous bitcoin<>cash technology unsusceptible to double-spend risks.
- Manage your money online at Robocoin.com (built for web and mobile).
- Send money to anyone using just their phone # – no bitcoin address required (but still optional). Imagine USD to (bitcoin-to) Peso – faster and cheaper than Western Union or Moneygram.
- Easily send and receive bitcoin between your Robocoin Account and any Bitcoin wallet.
With reference to security:
- Login requires biometric proof-of-identity. Palm-vein scan, with hardware partner Fujitsu, is a high-tech security measure to protect accounts and combat ID fraud.
- Robocoin is migrating its servers into a Tier 4 datacenter – the only one of its kind in North America.
- Most bitcoins are secured in cold storage (offline) built on multi-signature architecture. Private keys are divided in bank vaults around the world. All deposits go straight to the cold wallet.
- Robocoin has contracted some of the best penetration testers to independently audit Robocoin security.
- Robocoin uses proof of solvency to provably demonstrate 100% reserves.
According to Robocoin CEO Jordan Kelley, the company is “aggressively” testing the platform in-house before its expected to make a public debut at the end of Summer.
“Robocoins start at $15,000 and our operators are making a lot of money,” Kelley wrote in his email blast.