Blue Ridge Bank employee Daesha Graves at the bank's Mineral branch drive-through ATM with bitcoin capability. Photo courtesy Blue Ridge Bankshares
With cryptocurrency use on the rise, customers of Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc., the parent holding company of Blue Ridge Bank, will now be able to purchase and redeem bitcoin at its ATMs, making them the first commercial bank to do so, the company announced Wednesday.
Blue Ridge Bank cardholders can purchase and redeem bitcoin at 19 locations across the state, including its branch locations and offsite ATMs. The bank has partnered with Woodstock-based BluePoint ATM Solutions and Boston-based bitcoin ATM software provider LibertyX for the new service. Customers will still have access to traditional ATM services.
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are an alternative to conventional currency, but its value fluctuates. As of Feb. 10, one bitcoin is worth approximately $45,000. At the end of January, one bitcoin was worth about $30,000. Since the pandemic’s effects began being felt in March 2020 (when bitcoin was worth $6,000 apiece), the value of bitcoin has been on a relatively steady incline. Business leaders such as Elon Musk of Tesla and Michael Saylor of Tysons-based MicroStrategy have recently invested billions of dollars in bitcoin. Bitcoin is a “dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash,” Saylor said in an August 2020 statement.
