Crypto and Bitcoin ATM Glossary

Plain-language definitions for the terms that come up when buying or selling cryptocurrency with cash in the United States. Written for people standing in front of a machine, not for traders.

If a term you need is missing, tell us and we will add it.

Index

Altcoin · AML · Bitcoin ATM · Blockchain · BTM · Cash-to-crypto · CFTC · Chargeback · Coin ATM Radar · Cold storage · Confirmation · CTR · Custodial wallet · Custody · Exchange · Fiat · FinCEN · Halving · Host business · Hot wallet · Jury duty scam · KYC · Last verified date · Liquidity · Mining · Money transmitter licence · MSB · Network fee · Non-custodial wallet · OFAC · Off-ramp · One-way machine · On-ramp · Operator · Order book · Pig butchering · Private key · Public address · QR code · Redemption code · SAR · Satoshi · Seed phrase · Slippage · Spread · Stablecoin · Structuring · Transaction hash · Travel Rule · Two-way machine · Volatility · Wallet

Definitions

Bitcoin ATM
A physical kiosk that lets you buy cryptocurrency with cash, and sometimes sell it for cash. Despite the name it is not a bank ATM and is not connected to your bank account. Most are operated by private companies that lease floor space in gas stations, convenience stores, laundromats and delis. Fees are charged as a percentage markup on the exchange rate rather than a flat withdrawal fee, and are typically far higher than an online exchange. Also called a BTM or crypto ATM.
BTM
Short for Bitcoin Teller Machine, the industry term for a crypto ATM. Operators use BTM in filings and press material more often than “Bitcoin ATM”.
One-way machine
A crypto ATM that only sells cryptocurrency for cash. You can insert notes and receive coin, but you cannot cash out. The majority of machines in the United States are one-way, which is why a directory listing should say whether a machine supports selling before you travel to it.
Two-way machine
A crypto ATM that both sells cryptocurrency for cash and buys it back, dispensing physical notes. Far less common than one-way machines because holding cash in the kiosk creates handling and security costs for the operator.
Spread
The gap between the exchange rate a machine or exchange gives you and the actual market rate. It is how most crypto ATMs make money, and it is often not displayed as a fee at all. A machine advertising “no fees” may still take 10-20% through the spread.
Slippage
The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got, caused by the market moving between order placement and execution. Distinct from spread, which is charged deliberately.
On-ramp
Any service that converts government-issued money into cryptocurrency. Crypto ATMs are cash on-ramps; exchanges are bank-transfer and card on-ramps.
Off-ramp
The reverse of an on-ramp – converting cryptocurrency back into government-issued money. Two-way ATMs are cash off-ramps.
Fiat
Government-issued currency such as the US dollar, which is not backed by a physical commodity. Used to distinguish traditional money from cryptocurrency.
KYC
Know Your Customer. The identity checks a financial business must run before letting you transact. At a crypto ATM this usually means a phone number for small amounts, escalating to a photo ID scan and sometimes a selfie above certain thresholds. Thresholds vary by operator and by state, not just by federal rule.
AML
Anti-Money Laundering. The body of law and internal procedure financial businesses must follow to detect and report suspected money laundering. AML obligations are why crypto ATM operators collect identity information and file reports on certain transactions.
MSB
Money Services Business. The federal category most crypto ATM operators register under with FinCEN. Registration is a legal requirement, not a mark of quality – it means the operator has filed, not that it is well run.
FinCEN
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the US Treasury bureau that administers money-laundering rules. Crypto ATM operators register with FinCEN as money services businesses and file reports under its rules.
Travel Rule
A requirement that financial institutions pass certain originator and beneficiary information along with transfers above a threshold. It applies to crypto transfers in the US and shapes what operators must collect and share.
OFAC
The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers US sanctions. Operators screen customers and wallet addresses against OFAC lists, which is one reason a transaction can be refused without much explanation.
Money transmitter licence
A state-level licence many crypto ATM operators need in addition to federal registration. Requirements differ sharply by state, which is why the same operator may run machines in one state and not the one next door.
Wallet
Software or hardware that stores the private keys controlling your cryptocurrency. The coins live on the blockchain; the wallet holds the keys that let you move them.
Custodial wallet
A wallet where a company holds the private keys for you, as an exchange does. Convenient, recoverable if you lose your password, and dependent on that company staying solvent and secure.
Non-custodial wallet
A wallet where you alone hold the private keys. Nobody can freeze it and nobody can restore it for you. Most crypto ATMs send purchased coin to a non-custodial wallet address you supply.
Private key
The secret value that authorises spending from a cryptocurrency address. Anyone who has it controls the funds. It is never shared, and no legitimate operator or support agent will ask for it.
Seed phrase
A list of 12 or 24 ordinary words that can regenerate a wallet and all its private keys. It is the master backup. Anyone who reads it can drain the wallet, and losing it usually means losing the funds permanently.
Public address
The string you share to receive cryptocurrency, comparable to an account number. At an ATM you supply this, usually by scanning a QR code from your wallet app, so the machine knows where to send the coin.
QR code
The square barcode used to pass a wallet address to a machine without typing it. Scanning avoids transcription errors, which matter because a mistyped address sends funds somewhere unrecoverable.
Cold storage
Keeping private keys on a device that never touches the internet, such as a hardware wallet or paper backup. Slower to access and much harder to steal remotely.
Hot wallet
A wallet connected to the internet – a phone app or exchange account. Convenient for spending, more exposed to compromise.
Blockchain
The shared public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions. Each block references the one before it, which makes rewriting history computationally impractical. Bitcoin transactions are permanently visible on it.
Confirmation
A transaction being included in a block and buried under subsequent blocks. More confirmations means more certainty the payment is final. An ATM purchase may show as pending until the network confirms it, typically minutes rather than seconds.
Network fee
The fee paid to the network itself for processing a transaction, separate from what a machine or exchange charges. It rises when the network is congested and is why sending very small amounts can be uneconomic.
Satoshi
The smallest divisible unit of bitcoin, one hundred-millionth of a coin. Used when discussing very small amounts or fee rates.
Stablecoin
A cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to the US dollar and backed by reserves. Used to sit out volatility without converting back to a bank account.
Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin. Many crypto ATMs sell only bitcoin; some support a short list of altcoins.
Exchange
A platform for trading cryptocurrency, usually against dollars or other coins. Fees are typically a small percentage per trade, far below what a physical machine charges, in exchange for requiring a bank account and full identity verification.
Order book
The live list of outstanding buy and sell orders on an exchange. Its depth determines how much you can trade before moving the price against yourself.
Liquidity
How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price. Thin liquidity means larger spreads and worse fills.
Volatility
How sharply a price moves over time. Crypto is highly volatile, which is why the rate quoted at a machine is only held for a short window.
Halving
A scheduled event roughly every four years that cuts the new bitcoin issued per block in half, reducing the rate of new supply.
Mining
The process of committing new transactions to the blockchain and earning newly issued coin plus fees for doing so.
Transaction hash
The unique identifier of a transaction on the blockchain, sometimes called a TXID. If a purchase does not arrive, this is the reference an operator will ask for.
Chargeback
A reversal of a card payment. Cryptocurrency transactions cannot be reversed this way, which is why machines take cash and why scam losses are usually unrecoverable.
Custody
Who controls the private keys. Self-custody means you do; custodial means a company does. It determines who can freeze, lose, or recover your funds.
Structuring
Deliberately breaking one large cash transaction into several smaller ones to stay under a reporting threshold. It is a federal offence in its own right in the United States, separate from whatever the money is for, and it applies to the customer rather than the operator. Machines that impose daily and rolling limits are not inviting you to work around them.
Host business
The shop the machine physically sits in – a convenience store, petrol station or laundromat. The host is almost never the operator: it rents floor space for a share of revenue. This is why a machine can vanish overnight when a lease ends, and why the host often cannot help when a transaction fails.
Operator
The company that owns and runs the machine, sets its fees, holds the state money transmitter licence, and is the party to contact when something goes wrong. The brand on the screen is the operator; the shop around it is the host business.
Cash-to-crypto
The category a Bitcoin ATM belongs to: converting physical cash into cryptocurrency, or back, without a bank account or linked card. It is the whole reason these machines exist and the reason they can charge what they do.
Coin ATM Radar
A public service that tracks Bitcoin ATM locations and operator-reported fees. It is the source behind the widely-quoted median fee figures, including those the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City used in 2023. Reporting is voluntary, and operators charging above average commonly stop reporting, which biases the published median low.
Pig butchering
A long-running fraud in which the victim is befriended over weeks, shown fake investment returns, and then walked through depositing progressively larger sums. Cash machines feature because the deposit is irreversible and there is no bank in the loop to question it.
Jury duty scam
A specific impersonation script: a caller posing as a sheriff or court officer claims a warrant has been issued for a missed jury summons and can be cleared by paying immediately at a crypto machine. No court in the United States collects fines this way.
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US regulator for derivatives and certain commodity markets, which treats Bitcoin as a commodity. It issues consumer warnings on crypto machine fraud alongside the FTC and state attorneys general.
SAR
Suspicious Activity Report. A filing a money services business makes when it judges a transaction may involve unlawful funds. The obligation sits with the operator, not the customer, and a filing is not an accusation.
CTR
Currency Transaction Report. A filing covering cash transactions above a threshold set in federal regulation. Like a SAR it is the operator’s obligation, and an ordinary lawful transaction that triggers one has caused no problem for the person who made it.
Redemption code
The code a two-way machine issues after you send it Bitcoin, which you then enter to collect cash. The machine waits for network confirmation before dispensing, so the code and the cash are separated by a wait rather than being instant.
Last verified date
The date we last confirmed a listed machine still exists, shown on every listing here. Most Bitcoin ATM maps do not publish one. When we checked 200 listings during build-out, 41 no longer existed – roughly one in five – which is what the date is for.

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