SatoshiPoint launching three bitcoin ATMs in U.K. next week

The race to become the largest bitcoin ATM provider in Britain is heating up. Later this week, U.K.-based bitcoin startup SatoshiPoint will activate two new Robocoin ATMs in London. A third ATM is tentatively scheduled to be debuted on June 3rd in Bristol. The machines are currently connected to Bitstamp, and will charge a 5% transaction fee.

The ATMs are relatively new Robocoin models allowing two-way transactions, and have significant anti-money laundering and know-your-customer protections built in. Customers have shown some reluctance to use the machines in other markets, as they require a three-step authentication process involving a biometric hand print, a scanned government-issued ID and digital face-recognition.

It’s still unknown how Britain’s regulators will react to these ATMs in the long term, but SatoshiPoint does face some stiff competition from a flood of considerably more user-friendly automated vending machines (AVMs) recently announced by QuikBit and Lamassu.

The first two SatoshiPoint ATMs will be placed near Oxford Circus and in a soup shop in the Old Street London Underground shopping concourse. Should the initial launch prove profitable, the company plans to expand its network across the U.K.