Our first Bitcoin ATM went into Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois. By the time we installed it, we had spent months trying to persuade someone to give us a location. The business that eventually grew to sixty locations began with the difficulty of finding just one.
When I look back on Crypto Dispensers, I remember the work leading up to that first machine as clearly as the expansion that came afterward. Before there was a fleet to operate, there were months of trying to get started.
We first encountered Bitcoin ATMs in gas stations. They showed us that someone could use cash to buy Bitcoin without going through the online purchase process that had made my own early attempts so frustrating.
We thought the same service could reach more people in shopping malls. If customers were using the machines in gas stations, we believed there was an opportunity to introduce them in places where people already went to shop and spend time. We wanted Bitcoin to become easier to encounter and more familiar to ordinary customers.
We approached Walmart, Simon Property Group, and other potential locations. We could explain why we believed in the idea, but we still needed a property owner to agree to it. Months passed as we tried to find somewhere willing to let us install a machine.
That was the first obstacle we had to overcome. Until we had a location, we could not put the business in front of customers and find out whether our thinking was right.
Simon Property Group agreed to let us install our first ATM at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois. After months of searching for a location, the business finally had somewhere to begin.
Then we had to install the machine. I remember how difficult that first installation was. We were learning the physical and practical work of operating an ATM business while trying to make the most of a location we had worked hard to secure.
Getting permission had taken persistence. Making the machine available to customers required us to follow through on what we had proposed. We had to move it, install it, and figure out how to make the operation work.
The relationship with Simon opened opportunities at other shopping centers. An existing installation could introduce the business to another property manager and lead to a discussion about a new location. Growth depended on following those opportunities through to an operating machine.
From our correspondence: the March 26 and March 28, 2018 University Park Mall exchange, shown in an April 14 email. Original screenshot, reproduced as supplied. View the original email at full size.
On April 16, 2018, Garrett See of DV Chain emailed after seeing our ATM at Woodfield Mall. He described the firm’s services for ATM operators, including supplying cryptocurrency and lending Bitcoin. DV Chain is affiliated with DV Trading, the Chicago-based proprietary trading firm.
By April 2018, the business was managing four machines across Woodfield Mall, University Park Mall, and Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets. The next challenge was financing additional equipment. We wanted to expand the fleet across more Simon properties, rather than borrow Bitcoin to supply the existing machines.
That initial exchange led to a conversation about financing the expansion.
The financing discussions focused on a business that was already operating. The machine at Woodfield showed what had been established, and additional financing would allow the company to purchase more equipment.
After two meetings, the business received a $150,000 loan. That financing went toward the first thirty machines purchased for the expansion.
The sequence mattered. The first location made the business visible. That visibility led to interest from a potential lender, and the financing made it possible to buy the equipment needed to grow.
From our correspondence: Garrett See’s April 16, 2018 outreach and Sabreen’s April 24 response requesting expansion financing. Original screenshot, reproduced as supplied. View the original email at full size.
Receiving the financing was an important moment, but there was still a considerable amount of work ahead of us. The loan had to be repaid, and the machines had to be installed and operated. We were taking on a larger business before we had the experience of running one at that scale.
We expanded across Simon Property Group shopping centers in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Iowa. With DV’s support, the business eventually grew to sixty locations. The thirty machines purchased with that initial loan were an early stage of the expansion.
Each location required practical work. Machines had to be moved into place. Installations had to be coordinated. We had to work through problems while keeping the existing operation functioning. Growth brought more of those responsibilities into our lives.
This is the part I wish people could see when they look at the size the business eventually reached. Sixty locations did not appear at once. We had to figure out how to install and operate the machines, then repeat that work as the company grew.
I often speak about the persistence it took to build Crypto Dispensers. I also want to be clear about the people who helped make it possible.
The Woodfield team gave an unfamiliar business a chance. The relationship with Simon created opportunities at other properties, and DV was willing to discuss the equipment financing the company needed. I remain grateful for those opportunities.
Those contributions belong in the history of the company. I am proud of the work I did, and I know that the business grew through the work and decisions of other people too. Calling myself a founder should never obscure that.
For someone visiting the mall, our ATM might have been a machine they noticed on the way to a store. To us, it was the result of months of effort and the beginning of relationships that changed what we could build.
Crypto Dispensers eventually moved beyond operating Bitcoin ATMs. The experience of running that fleet helped shape the problems I later tried to solve through Bitcoin POP and a broader on-ramp. We no longer operate ATMs, but those years remain part of how I learned to build a company.
I learned that progress could depend on work that produced no immediate result. We kept approaching locations before Woodfield said yes. Once we had that approval, we had to learn the installation work. Once we had financing, we had to learn how to operate a larger fleet.
That is the history I want people to understand when I speak about Crypto Dispensers. There were difficult installations, financing obtained to expand, and responsibilities that grew with every location. Long before anyone saw a company with a fleet of machines, there was the struggle to make the first one work.
When I think about those sixty locations, I remember the months when we could not find a place for even one machine. I remember the difficulty of that first installation and the work that continued after it. Each location held some of the time and effort I had put into building a future for my family. I wanted that work to give them security, and I wanted them to be proud of what I had built. Those hopes are still with me. They are why this history means so much more to me than the number of machines we once operated.
Privacy controls
Necessary cookies are always on so the site works. You can also allow analytics to help us improve the experience, and advertising cookies to measure campaigns and show more relevant ads. You can change this anytime.
Read our privacy policy