Paying cash for Bitcoin: ATMs, konbini and coin shops — and what each costs

01Three ways to buy crypto with cash in Asia

Buying Bitcoin with cash in Asia comes down to three routes: a Bitcoin ATM (feed in notes, coins go to your wallet), a convenience store (a direct purchase in Taiwan, a deposit to an exchange in Japan), or a physical OTC shop (mainly Hong Kong). What they share: fast, convenient, expensive — and once you are outside the banking system, mistakes are hard to undo.

If you simply don’t want to use a credit card, there is a cheaper option: deposit the cash in your own bank account and fund a licensed exchange by local instant transfer (see buying crypto by bank transfer). The cash-only routes below make most sense for travellers and people without a local bank account.

02Bitcoin ATMs across Asia

“Bitcoin ATM near me” is a popular search in Asia, but the picture varies enormously from one market to the next.

How do Hong Kong machines work? At COINHERO the minimum is HK$500 and machines accept HK$100, HK$500 and HK$1,000 notes. Up to HK$100,000 per transaction needs no registration; above that you register with a mobile code, HKID or passport, a selfie and a fingerprint. CoinUnit machines take only HK$500 and HK$1,000 notes. Machines that also buy crypto back for cash are rare: only 9 of COINHERO’s roughly 100 locations offer selling.

03What paying with cash really costs

Why is cash so expensive? ATM operators pay rent, cash handling, maintenance and compliance, and all of it ends up in the price. The chart compares a purchase of about HK$10,000 (roughly US$1,280) using published rates.

COINHERO’s October 2025 press release quoted an 8.6% spread plus HK$100; its FAQ in September 2026 showed 13% plus HK$100. Fees change, so read the quote on the machine’s screen before you insert a single note. Local media and guides put the wider market at 7.5%–10%. OTC shop spreads look low, but the risk is priced separately — see below.

04Convenience stores: Taiwan and Japan

Taiwan: buy at the counter

Taiwan is one of the few places in Asia where you can buy crypto at a convenience store. BitoEX (part of BitoGroup, whose BitoPro exchange is registered with the FSC) advertises convenience-store purchases: you place the order at the in-store kiosk, pay cash at the till, and the coins are credited to your account or wallet. Check BitoEX’s own convenience-store page for current chains and limits — 7-Eleven reportedly ended one such service in 2023, and arrangements change. BitoPro, in the same group, also sells TTCheck gift cards.

Japan: konbini deposits, not konbini Bitcoin

Plenty of people in Japan search for “コンビニ で ビットコイン を 買う”, but the real flow is: request a convenience-store deposit in your exchange app, get a payment number, pay cash at the konbini, and buy once the yen lands. At JFSA-registered Coincheck, a konbini deposit costs ¥770 under ¥30,000 and ¥1,018 for ¥30,000–300,000. On a ¥10,000 purchase the deposit fee alone is 7.7% — more than a card. With a Japanese bank account, a furikomi or instant deposit is almost always cheaper.

05OTC shops: the Hong Kong case

Walk along Nathan Road in Mong Kok, through Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui or around Causeway Bay and you’ll see “crypto exchange shops”. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau’s February 2024 consultation paper estimated about 200 physical OTC outlets (ATMs included). A legislator noted in April 2025 that none of them is licensed — a business registration is enough to open one.

After the Stablecoins Ordinance took effect on 1 August 2025, the government told LegCo that these shops are not “permitted offerors” and cannot offer specified stablecoins such as USDT to retail or professional investors. The government is also moving towards an SFC-licensed virtual-asset dealing regime, with a bill targeted for 2026; shops and ATM networks would then need a licence from day one, with no transition period.

The incident record is long. In May 2024 a customer in Tsim Sha Tsui sent about HK$1m in USDT and was handed hell banknotes. Between January and September 2024, 13 investors lost HK$14.8m to fake “crypto exchange stores” in West Kowloon. In December 2025 a shop owner at 608 Nathan Road was attacked by knife-wielding robbers at closing time.

06Safety checklist and legal limits

1. Send coins only to a wallet you control

   ATMs and shops will ask for a wallet address. Use your own, and check the first and last characters after scanning. No wallet yet? Start with our wallet guide.

2. Confirm arrival before you leave

   At a shop, wait for the transaction to show in your wallet before handing over cash or walking out. Never go alone for large amounts.

3. Beware the “helpful” caller

   If someone on the phone or chat app is guiding you to a crypto ATM and giving you an address to send to, it is almost certainly a scam. The FBI recorded more than US$388m in crypto-ATM fraud losses in the US in 2025.

4. Know the local law

   Singapore bans physical crypto ATMs. Mainland China prohibits crypto trading services, and we provide no cash-to-crypto methods there. In India and Malaysia, cash and P2P deals carry anti-money-laundering and account-freeze risk — see our P2P guide.

Checking whether a platform itself is trustworthy deserves the same care — see exchange safety and licences — and every payment route by country is compared in crypto payment methods.

FAQ

Sources

• COINHERO — FAQ (fees and limits) · checked Sep 2026
• FSTB — consultation on regulating OTC trading of virtual assets · Feb 2024
• HKSAR Government — LCQ10: stablecoins and OTC shops · Sep 2025
• Coincheck — fee schedule (convenience-store deposits) · checked Oct 2026
• BitoEX — convenience-store purchases · checked Oct 2026

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