After having regular fun growth in 2025 like Bitcoin (BTC) first hit an all-time high (ATH) above $125,000 before pulling back, the global internet crypto currency ATMs saw a significant decline in the first five months of 2026.
In particular, there was 39,456 such BTC machines worldwide on January 1 and, by May 18, the number dropped to 38,484 due to a total loss of 972: only 28 of 1,000.
In particular, the decline began only in March, as an additional 360 Bitcoin ATMs were added worldwide through the first two months of the year, showing a trend that did not follow the cryptocurrency’s value.
Indeed, after starting the year at $88,732, BTC dropped to $62,851 by February 5th and hovered around $70,000 by March when it briefly peaked around $75,000.
The cryptocurrency then found the bottom of the area on March 28 around $66,000 and rallied another 17% to $77,438 by press time.
The US leads the withdrawal of Bitcoin ATMs while Canada bucks the downtrend
Elsewhere, the withdrawal of Bitcoin ATMs was concentrated in the United States. There were 30,844 machines in the country at the beginning of 2026, and 289 were added as of March 1.
The next update resulted in the removal of 1,262 machines, bringing the total year-to-date (YTD) losses to 973, as there are 29,871 Bitcoin ATMs in the US as of May 18, 2026.
In the European Union, this started earlier than in the Western Hemisphere, with the latest risk coming on December 1, 2025, at 1,803. At press time, there are 1,695 Bitcoin ATMs in the EU for a full drop of 60 from 1,755 on January 1.
Surprisingly, Canada remains, and May 18, on the rise, having added 185 such BTC machines: from 3,733 on New Year’s Day to 3,918.
Bitcoin Depot BTC ATM bankruptcy filings
Finally, the decline in the number of BTC ATMs looks set to continue in the US in the coming months as Bitcoin Depot (NASDAQ: BTM) – user of such machine – was sent to chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 18, 2026.
Of course, the company suffered a major bankruptcy in April that led to the theft of about $4 million, and he explained that his latest decision was driven by the negative changes in the management of products in different countries in the country.
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