Spanish police are investigating the robbery of “Bitcoin ATM” in a raid on a cryptocurrency exchange in the wealthy Barcelona area, local media reported on Friday.
Bitcoin ATMs allow customers to purchase cryptocurrencies using cash or debit cards, but some ATMs also allow users to exchange their cryptocurrencies for cash.
According to data from the Coin ATM Radar website, which tracks the location of crypto ATMs, Spain has 158 such machines, the highest number in Europe.
Catalan Mossos d’Esquadra police said the ATM had been stolen around 3 am and refused to provide further information so as not to interfere with the investigation.
Citing police sources, EFE News Agency said the thief took a Bitcoin ATM from a store on Beethoven Street in the Sarria region, where the GBTC cryptocurrency exchange branch is located.
GBTC did not return multiple requests for comment, and police declined to confirm the exact location of the robbery.
An unidentified video claiming to show a crime shows an SUV plunging into a closed shutter at a GBTC storefront before half a dozen hooded people carry an automated teller machine to a second car waiting on the street. I showed that I was there.
One of the perpetrators sprayed a fire extinguisher on the spectators as the two cars rushed at night.