Driving mass adoption: bitcoin is available within 5 miles of 90% of Americans via kiosk

Coinme's recent partnership with Coinstar has the potential to bring about the "Mass adoption of bitcoin." BTC is now available within 5 miles of 90 percent of Americans, via cash-enabled kiosk.

Coinme's recent partnership with Coinstar has made bitcoin much more widely available to the general public.

In a Mar. 28 moderated panel at TF3, the CEOs of both companies-Neil Bergquist, co-founder of Bitcoin ATM startup Coinme, and Jim Gaherity, CEO of Coinstar-discussed the potential for bitcoin's mainstream adoption and how their companies will help facilitate that.

Unlike online exchanges, Coinme and Coinstar offer kiosks that dispense bitcoin in exchange for cash.

Coinstar currently facilitates roughly 70 million transactions a year that turn coins into "Spendable currency." More recently, the company has become involved with other financial services, including bill payments, money transfers, and now bitcoin transactions.

Even though Coinstar services leading retailers like Walmart and Kroger, the company was able to present bitcoin services as a "Safe" opportunity.

Ultimately, it's Coinstar's goal to have retailers accept bitcoin in-store as a method of payment.

The two CEOs go on to talk about how Coinstar's support of Bitcoin adds substantial legitimacy to the sector.

Partnerships with brands like Coinstar have the potential to make Bitcoin a phenomena that financial institutions and retailers will find hard to ignore.

Currently, bitcoin-enabled kiosks are available to most citizens in the US:. "Coinstar has a kiosk located within 5 miles for 90 percent of Americans. So now that you have the infrastructure, you build awareness, you get adoption," said Bergquist.