(Coinme Photo)

Seattle startup Coinme today announced a $5.5 million investment as it sees increasing interest in its cryptocurrency ATM network from both customers and investors.

Neil Bergquist. (Coinme photo)

Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist said the company’s transaction volumes have increased by more than 40% since late February, bucking a trend for many tech startups that are struggling to bring in revenue amid the global pandemic.

Coinme teamed up with Coinstar in January 2019 and has been able to continue reaching customers given that Coinstar kiosks are located inside essential businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies. Founded in 2014, Coinme has more than 3,500 locations across 27 U.S. states.

Bergquist said there’s increasing interest in bitcoin given the influx of cash into the U.S. economy, and bitcoin’s “halving” process, which reduces its supply.

“The mantra these days is that ‘bitcoin was born in a financial crisis and it will come of age in this one,'” Bergquist said.

Bitcoin’s price has been volatile this year, losing about half its value as the COVID-19 outbreak spread across the world, but has recovered.

It’s unclear how the economic crisis will affect bitcoin’s price. “This asset class is experimental and thus entirely speculative, ” Jesse Proudman, CEO of Seattle cryptocurrency startup Strix Leviathan, wrote in March.

Regardless, Bergquist is confident in the long-term future of cryptocurrency as not only a store of value but also as a more efficient medium of exchange. He said integrations with existing payment platforms will lead to people owning cryptocurrency without even knowing it.

“This interoperability enables global commerce, financial inclusion, and equal access to different forms of money,” he said. “The global socioeconomic impact will be profound.”

Coinme has 28 employees and expects to grow by 50% this year. It will expand into Latin America with the fresh cash.

Bitcoin investment firm Pantera Capital led the funding; Joey Krug, the firm’s co-chief investment officer, will join Coinme’s board.

Earlier this week another Seattle crypto startup, Stably, raised $1 million.

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