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Bitcoin turns Japanese, turns around losing streak

Tokyo, once home to the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange — the now-defunct Mt. Gox — is now finally home to a Bitcoin ATM.

A Robocoin machine was installed last week at The Pink Cow, which Tech in Asia describes as a popular expat bar and restaurant in Tokyo’s Roppongi entertainment district, and the first establishment in Tokyo (though not the first in Japan) to accept payment in Bitcoin.

Japan has been somewhat standoffish about Bitcoin, said the publication, quoting Pink Cow owner Traci Consoli as saying that Japan has been “slow and skeptical” to adopt the currency.

This is either: a) a surprise, given the proximity of Mt. Gox, which until late February was a Bitcoin powerhouse; or b) no surprise, given the proximity of Mt. Gox, which long before this February was a poster child for dismal Bitcoin exchange management.

Las Vegas also got its own Bitcoin ATM in May. The Robocoin cash in-cash out machine went live at the D Las Vegas casino. The D also accepts Bitcoin, so those who gambled on the volatile digital currency can now gamble with it, as well.

And in May, the gambling on Bitcoin was good. After weathering a number of disasters — the failure of Mt. Gox, the dismantling of the Silk Road, heated controversy over Bitcoin Foundatioon board members and more — the currency still managed to crank out a 34 percent return for the month, closing above $600 per bitcoin after hitting a low of  $344 on April 11.

The increase in value was helped along by an announcement from Dish Network that it would begin accepting payment in Bitcoin for its services. Dish joined Overstock.com as one of the biggest consumer goods companies to deal in Bitcoin.