Catalonia police are investigating reports that an ATM was taken from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s crypto exchange in Barcelona’s Sarria neighborhood at 3:00 AM Friday.

A unverified video claiming it to capture the incident shows an SUV ramming through the shutters of the GBTC Storefront, before six men in hoods moved the cash machine onto a second car parked on the street. According to Reuters, so far police have not commented on the incident to local media.

Bitcoin ATMs enable customers to buy cryptocurrency with cash or debit cards, and some even allow them to trade their crypto assets for cash.

The Coin ATM radar website showed that Spain has 158 Bitcoin ATMs, which is the largest number of ATMs across Europe. Because they offer a seamless user experience, these ATMs are increasingly common at convenience and gas stations. However, criminals can find them easy targets.

CNBC reports that ATMs have been used in drug trafficking and money laundering as well as fraud schemes throughout the U.S.

Many operators of Bitcoin ATMs are still registered with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in states where the regulations are quite slack.

In the past, there have been many other cases of Bitcoin ATM crime. In July, a Surrey man aged 24 was charged with a Bitcoin ATM theft and property crime. This occurred in Langley on June 11th, 2021.

Kraken Security Labs discovered some software and hardware vulnerabilities in General Bytes BATMtwo. The machines, which operate on Google’s Android operating system, include a default admin QR code that allows anyone with this QR code to compromise the ATMs.

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