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The only bitcoin ATM in Central Asia is installed in an Italian restaurant Dolce Vita in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, that also accepts bitcoin from customers. Bitcoin community in Kyrgyzstan is enthusiastic about promoting cryptocurrency.

The story of the first bitcoin ATM in Kyrgyzstan runs as follows. A year and a half two local tech enthusiasts Nazik Chonoeva and Emmanuele Costa brought a Lamassu bitcoin ATM to Kyrgyzstan and installed it in one of Bishkek's trade malls. However, the owners of the trade centre asked to remove it and it ended up in the pizzeria Dolce Vita. The first bitcoin ATM in the country exchanges dollars for bitcoins. The developers of the machine made a special version of the interface in Russian which is the spoken language in Kyrgyzstan. The installation of the bitcoin ATM attracted a lot of attention in the media.

“Many people attended the launch of the ATM. Especially bankers. There were also representatives from the National bank. Everyone was interested what bitcoin is. Very few people had heard about bitcoin at that time,” Chonoeva says. 

At the moment the bitcoin ATM in Bishkek is used by approximately three or four people per month and the average total sum of bitcoins purchased with it adds up to $1500 equivalent. 

Chonoeva and Costa, who worked for Goldman Sachs and Barclays in the past, own an investment management company Kyrstone, a consulting agency for startups. There are some bitcoin startups among their clients. Costa has no doubt that the cryptocurrency will become a profitable business in Kyrgyzstan. However, he sees several problems including the lack of investment and the national regulator’s indecisive stance on the status of the digital currency bitcoin. Last year the National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic issued statements proclaiming bitcoin payments illegal under the national law. However, although the law does apply to official institutions, for individuals it acts only as a recommendation.

Fortunately, there are advocates of the cryptocurrency in the country. An IT specialist and bitcoin evangelist Daniil Vartanov from Bishkek gives free lectures on bitcoin and blockchain for business leaders and the general public and publishes them on YouTube. His aim is to attract investors and demonstrate that bitcoin will benefit the national economy. He explains it by the fact that 32% of the national product of the country consists of money transfers from the Kyrgyz working abroad. The commission fees of several millions dollars stay with the intermediary countries instead of fuelling the national economy. Vartanov and other developers approached the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan asking to legalize bitcoin but have not succeeded so far.

“The government of the country follows the policies adopted in Moscow. If bitcoins were spread in Russia, we would have them legalized here much quicker”, Vartanov complains.
Aliona Chapel