More and more Bitcoin ATMs are popping up around the world and sometimes they become a target of wrongdoers. A couple of thieves recently robbed a Bitcoin ATM in Canada. They took around $3,000 out of the machine and what is more interestingly – forgot to take the remaining $37,000.
The place of the heist was a local food market in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Apparently, two thieves decided that the Bitcoin ATM was a valuable target, and as per the reported video, they went straight for it. Even though the police were quick to react and they were at the scene 15 minutes after the alarm, the perpetrators had already escaped. However, according to the store owner, the security cameras managed to record the license place of their vehicle:
“Our security camera caught at least one of their cars drive away, which was a grey Nissan Sentra. The police were also able to catch their license plate too.”
The two robbers stole around $3,000 but could have taken much more. Each of them purportedly grabbed one canister, but they didn’t pay attention to the third one, which contained over $37,000.
In the wake of the robbery, owner of the food market added that he wouldn’t be keeping the Bitcoin ATM in his store any longer.
The 2017 parabolic price increase in the cryptocurrency market increased the overall interest in the industry. Two years later, it’s significantly easier now to purchase the digital assets online, but it could be done using physical Bitcoin ATMs as well.
The number of Bitcoin ATMs has gradually been increasing over the last few years. Recently, it hit a milestone by surpassing 6,000 units around the world. Of those, more than 65% are based in the U.S., and Canada follows with almost 11%.
The increased number of Bitcoin ATMs might be a boon for further cryptocurrency adoption as people have another option to make such purchases. Fiat money can be used to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies.
The downside, of course, is that like regular ATMs, Bitcoin ATMs store the cash that gets exchanged for bitcoins until the machine is empty. This can often be a sizable amount and, as such, makes the machines an attractive target.
In August of this year, thieves in Washington, DC stepped up their game, stealing an entire Bitcoin ATM machine instead of merely breaking into it and stealing the canisters.