You Can Swap Leftover Euros For Bitcoin At The Amsterdam Airport

The international airport in Amsterdam named ‘Schipol’ has recently installed a cryptocurrency ATM that lets any passenger convert their Euros into Bitcoin or Ethereum.

The airport revealed the new system in an announcement on Wednesday, where it assessed the demand for the two most prominent cryptocurrencies over a six-month trial in an initiative that is the first of the kind in any European airport.

With a strategic location right near the airport’s departures terminal, the ATM lets outbound travelers convert the remainder of their Euros into one of the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. The exact location of the ATM is the Arrival Hall 2 which can also be accessed by the corridor to Departure Halls 1 and 2 – places where there is a frequent flow of departing passengers.

According to the director of consumer products and services at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Tanja Dik:

“With the Bitcoin ATM, we hope to provide a useful service to passengers by allowing them to easily exchange ‘local’ euros for the ‘global’ cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum. That can be beneficial if, for instance, it’s not possible to spend euros in their home country.”

Right now, the 2-way ATM accepts euro bills and has been installed in a partnership with ByeleX which is a Dutch software services company that offers crypto ATMs through a subsidiary named ‘Byecoin’.

The concept of allowing travelers to use cryptocurrencies at airports definitely negates the hassle of heightened conversion fees if the fiat money is being exchanged for any other national currency.

Meanwhile, the airport in Amsterdam is not the first one on the list to be linked to cryptocurrencies. Australia’s Brisbane airport – which is the country’s third busiest one by passenger traffic – also introduced crypto payments at a number of retail establishments earlier this year.