Despite the low awareness of citizens about cryptocurrency and blockchain, Greece ranked sixth in terms of the number of installed crypto ATMs in the EU – now 64 devices are located in the country.
Basically, cryptomats are concentrated in the capital of Greece, Athens and the second largest city of Thessaloniki. Greek ATM operator BCash has also placed several of its devices on the country’s popular islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete.
Director and co-founder of BCash, Dimitrios Tsangalidis, said that the vast majority of the country’s residents are not yet sufficiently aware of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, so the company is trying to place crypto ATMs in areas with “the most loyal to the cryptocurrency audience.”
In Heraklion, the capital of Crete, local startup accelerator H2B Hub is partnering with the University of Nicosia to build and support the blockchain community. In addition, regular meetings are held in Athens and Thessaloniki for members of the local crypto community.
However, while tourism is Greece’s largest source of income, bringing in more than €20 billion annually, according to Tsangalidis, this does not apply to cryptocurrency users.
“Unfortunately, the exact opposite is happening. During the summer months and during the peak of the tourist season, the demand for cryptocurrencies drops, and we enter the cryptowinter period. The positive impact on local tourism will only be noticeable if the cryptocurrency is adopted universally,” said Tsangalidis.
According to statistics, only 1.87% of the Greek population uses cryptocurrency. At the same time, the Greek legislature is not active in the development of regulatory measures, and also does not plan to modernize any of the existing regimes in the near future.
Currently, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) treats cryptocurrencies as portfolio assets. Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that if bitcoin replaces conventional money, it will lead to “feudalism” and economic disaster.
