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Thieves rob Canadian bitcoin ATM. Forget to take most of the money

Source: a video screenshot, Youtube, Castanet News

November 21, 2019 | amyc@networldmediagroup.com

Bitcoin kiosks can carry a lot of cash, which makes them as susceptible to robbery as any traditional ATM or bank vault. Clearly, that was what motivated two hoodlums in Canada earlier this week. 

Shortly after 4 a.m. Tuesday, a pair of masked thieves broke into a Simply Delicious Food Market in Vernon, British Columbia. They smashed the front windows, crawled in through the broken glass and made a beeline for the bitcoin machine, which they pried open with crowbars. 

In a matter of minutes, the pair made off with CA$4,000 ($3,000) cash stolen from the bitcoin kiosk, but left CA$50,000 ($37,600) in a separate canister still inside the machine, according to a report in Castanet.

Police pulled up 15 minutes after the alarm went off, but missed the thieves escaping. However, the two were not missed by the cameras set up all over the store.  

"Our security camera caught at least one of their cars drive away, which was a grey Nissan Sentra," store owner Troy Roland said in the report. "The police were also able to catch their license plate too."

Because of the robbery and collateral damage, Roland said that Simply Delicious won't keep the bitcoin ATM in the store anymore. 

According to Coin ATM Radar, the machine in question was a Genesis Coin bitcoin ATM operated by HoneyBadger. It was installed December 12, 2018. 

Watch the heist caught on camera: