Anthony Truglia, founder of Bitcoin-Abroad LLC, is pursuing his dream by installing digital kiosks across Stamford that will allow customers to purchase the cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly and easily.
“I think the number one reason I got into this is because I feel there are a lot of people who don’t have access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency that could benefit them,” Truglia said.
Bitcoin-Abroad is seeking high-traffic areas to install kiosks, which will allow users to buy cryptocurrency from his company for a nominal fee and transfer it directly into a “hot wallet” that the user already owns. The appeal for many unbanked people is that while the value of Bitcoin has the potential to go down, it also has the potential to increase in value at rates much higher than any bank account or certificate of deposit. If two people both share the key or password that grants access to the wallet, they can also treat it like a joint checking account and avoid the transfer fees associated with services like Western Union if sharing money abroad.
At the time of writing, Truglia has installed two Bitcoin-Abroad locations in Stamford: one at the Dunkin Donuts at 310 Elm St., and the other at Shippan Candies at 320 Shippan Ave. He is already in negotiations with additional locations and plans to order four more kiosks from his Canadian manufacturer in the near future.
“I like to select areas that have really high foot traffic,” Truglia said of his selection criteria. “Typically, near highways and certain establishments, such as this Dunkin Donuts for example, that people oftentimes and in large numbers come through.”
While his kiosks do not function as ATMs since they cannot dispense cash, Truglia deploys similar thinking about where the demand for the services will be highest. He is less interested in establishments with drive-throughs ,which might reduce foot traffic, while anywhere that might be part of somebody’s daily routine is more attractive.
“If you had any intention of buying some Bitcoin that morning or that day, or you saw on your phone that it dropped in price while waiting in line, it’s right there,” Truglia said of the Elm Street location. “I’m hoping that people in this particular location who might be grabbing their coffee in the morning notice the machine over there, and there’s a novelty to it but also that convenience.”
In addition to the machines themselves potentially drawing crypto-savvy customers, Truglia predicted they will provide an attractive passive income stream. While he did not share the specific terms of his agreements, he pointed to competitor CoinFlip, which grossed close to $100 million last year with 2,500 machines offering a similar set of services.
“They can average anywhere between $1,000 to $3,000 a month,” he said of the returns he hopes to see from each machine, of which a portion will go to the owners of the businesses hosting the machines.
Truglia is confident that current trends in the crypto market are only temporary and that there is in fact increasing demand for convenient access to cryptocurrency among the unbanked.
As a Stamford native, Truglia is excited to be launching a new business venture in his hometown. He is building on his prior experience working in real estate and as a funding manager in Utah as well as a deep interest in cryptocurrency that emerged from research conducted in the early days of the pandemic lockdowns.
While aware of the challenges ahead, he is confident that Bitcoin-Abroad will perform better than the short-lived business he started right out of college. His original business imported “kopi luwak,” a coffee from the South Pacific, which is considered by many to be among the finest in the world. However, since the production process involves an animal known as the Asian palm civet not only selecting the choicest, ripest coffee beans but also eating and digesting them, market adoption proved to be an “uphill battle.”
Still, Truglia regarded the process of researching the product, registering the business, and successfully navigating the FDA approval process as valuable. His entrepreneurial spirit has turned that failure into an asset.
“It was a great learning experience,” he said. “I learned that maybe I needed to work for somebody else, try different things, and save up while gaining experience. I knew that one day, would get another idea or see an opportunity and want to jump on it. Bitcoin-Abroad is one of those.”
