Take out your smartphones and get those palms warmed up for a scanning, because itâs time for CoinDeskâs weekly bitcoin ATM roundup.
Itâs always Good Friday in the world of bitcoin ATMs, and we begin our end-of-week coverage with the best news and âfirst bitcoin ATMsâ weâve heard around the globe this week.
Remember that warehouse full of bitcoin ATMs in the UAE, which turned out not to be bitcoin ATMs but convenience store payment kiosks? Well, apparently they are actually bitcoin kiosks, according to local company Umbrellab:
Exactly :)
â Umbrellab (@umblab) 16th April 2014
Apparently China banned bitcoin again this week. Luckily that didnât extend to bitcoin ATMs though, and customers in the IC Coffee Shop in Shanghai can freely feed their yuan into this machine for bitcoin, thanks to exchange BTC China.
 
Latin America got its first bitcoin ATM this week, thanks to MercadoBitcoin in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Maybe they call it âThe Lucky Countryâ thanks to its regular supply of âfirstâ bitcoin ATMs. In any case, Australia got lucky again this week with a Robocoin machine. One user said:
âYou have to scan your hand a couple of times, and your ID, but itâs like when you go to a pub these days, and youâve got to scan your IDâ.
Picturesque Halifax, on Canadaâs Atlantic coast, received Atlantic Canadaâs first bitcoin ATM this week at Durty Nellyâs Irish Pub on Argyle Street.
Speaking of Canada, a company called BitSent promoted its Lamassu machines in Toronto this week at the BitcoinExpo 2014 convention with a competition called #bitselfie. Convention partygoers posed with the machines and posted the results on Twitter, like this one:
Let me take a #selfie! Check out the #Bitsent booth @BitcoinExpoCA. Tweet a #bitselfie with our AVM @BitSent for your chance to win big!
âBitSent (@bitsent) 11th April 2014
#bitselfie with Lovely cutting edge $5k! @BitSent ATM @BitcoinExpoCA#bitcoinexpo#bitsentpic.twitter.com/ALkpz3P4Q9
â Juan Galt (@ElJuanGalt) 14th April 2014
China ATM images courtesy Kapronasia