I've seen them pop up all around me, in small convenience stores and even restaurants. I was wondering if it's a good option to buy a gift for someone else, or are the fees too high and it's not worth it? Also I'm not sure how it works but figuring they give you a private key, and how safe is that?
Are you sure bitcoin atm is the one your talking about? Because, I think it isn't. I think bitcoin atm doesn't work like that, they won't give you a private key but they will only dispense money. You might be referring to the btc gift cards. They are the one's that give you a private key so that someone can use the btc later on.
It is trusted as long as the brand or the store your buying is also trusted but if you experience any problem like if the coins are top upped already, you can always go back to the store or call the brand supplier directly to complain and ask for a replacement. Pretty sure they will replace it or refund you, if they are honest. For a btc atm, someone says that their fees are high. When you use it make sure your going to convert higher amounts.
I realize I was just guessing that it way the works...spend money, get actual bitcoin, which would be a paper wallet, or maybe a qr code with a private key. I didn't realize that's not how it works. I mean it would make sense for me, that you can actually buy the value. However it seems it would just transfer the BTC to one of your accounts that are previously set up. In which case you can't really gift that to anyone. If I could print out a private key I would be able to gift that to someone, sort of like a paper wallet, which is just as good as the bitcoin itself, and would make a great gift if the fees weren't crazy high.