A SINGAPORE-BASED payment transaction company, Numoni, has become the first to introduce Bitcoin auto vending machines into Malaysia.
Bitcoins are a form of digital currency - the first virtual form of value to have crossed borders. This virtual currency carries value and allows peer-to-peer transfer.
Just a month after introducing the machines, the company installed machines at Bangsar Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur and at Gurney Plaza in Penang.
The machines were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2014, the world's leading telecommunications and mobile industry event, held in Spain last month.
Called the Numoni Nugen B2-Spirit, the machines have already been launched at four sites in Singapore with more than 70 machines. The firm has pilot schemes in Indonesia as well.
Chief executive Norma Sit said in a statement: "While different countries are deliberating over the acceptance of the bitcoin, it remains in demand. The Numoni bitcoin vending machines enable the general public to participate in buying small amounts of this crypto-currency that is seen in many countries as an international voucher that can be used to barter for goods online.
"From inception, Numoni understood that virtual currencies and mobile wallets will have tremendous impact on daily lives, in the light of the incredible global penetration of mobile phones that today reaches all communities," she said.
The machines have been fully developed in Singapore since 2012 and are produced in Malaysia.
Numoni has plans to establish 10 of the machines across Malaysia within a year, and 100 within the next three years.
The machines can be used to sell prepaid airtime and other voucher products on connection with telecommunication gateways. These machines read the user's bitcoin QR code and completes the request to purchase with the insertion of money, and customers can buy and sell these bitcoins at the machines.
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