Korea is adapting quickly to bitcoin, and while there is some uncertainty about how quickly the cyber-currency will roll out more widely there are signs already that it is here to stay and hopes that Korea will become a leader in the industry. Already Korean Bitcoin startup Coinplug has raised two rounds of funding to rapidly expand their growth (see previous article here). The company has also quickly moved from a purely online presence to opening their first Bitcoin ATM in the heart of Seoul. Below are a few details from a post about the recent instalment.
The ATM is owned by Coinplug and connected to their Bitcoin exchange
No ID is required to use the ATM
Limit of 100.000 won (~$100), but you can use the same address up to three times
The fee is less than 1%, as the ATM is mainly promotional, not for profit
It can be found in a cafe called "Coffee Sedona" inside Seoul's largest mall (COEX Mall at Samseong Station
You can pay with bitcoin in the cafe
A weekly meetup is hosted at this location every Saturday and you can join by signing up here
Joining the craze, beLAUNCH, Korea's leading event for tech, startups and entrepreneurship in May, is also now accepting payment of registrations using bitcoin. you can see more information about the event here, or go directly to the registration page here to sign-up using bitcoin. This feature of beLAUNCH is sponsored by another Korean bitcoin exchange, Korbit, who have also raised capital from Silicon Valley VCs in recent months.