By now, you’ve been accustomed to hearing about theft in the crypto industry. Hackers have made away with billions of dollars, with exchanges being the target of choice for these criminals. However, in Los Angeles, a burglar went the old school way and stole the entire Bitcoin ATM.
The incident took place in Belwood Bakery in Brentwood, a neighborhood in Westside Los Angeles. As was captured on the surveillance cameras, the burglar used a sledgehammer to break the glass front door to the beloved neighborhood bakery. He then went to work with his sledgehammer on the Bitcoin ATM mounted on the wall.
It didn’t need too much convincing and after a few whacks from the masked burglar, the ATM came off. After a few more thumps, he gave up, realizing the futility of his exercise.
The burglar probably believed that the bitcoins were in physical form and that he’d get himself a piece of the pie. He carried the ATM home.
Belwood Bakery has been the victim of a stream of robberies, with this being the third robbery in the last three months. In November last year, three thugs smashed the door in a similar fashion and ransacked the premises. Luckily enough, the shop owner hadn’t left any money overnight. Yet again in December, two burglars smashed the glass door and just like the first group, walked away empty-handed.
The owner, Derek Tran, told CBS Local:
It scares our neighbors. Our workers. It scares us, you know? Because it could happen at any time […] A lot of labor man. Hard labor. Hard blood, sweat and tears. It’s a hard hustle man. And we do it every day. When somebody comes like that, ruin that, make it even harder for us. It sucks.
We Are Inching Closer to Tracking Stolen Bitcoins
Gladly, the bitcoins sold on the ATM aren’t in physical form. If anything, the guy is only likely to have made away with a few hundred dollars in cash at most. However, in the near future, we might be able to track and trace stolen bitcoins. Thanks to the work of scientists at the University of Cambridge, we are inching closer to solving one big problem in crypto.
The new algorithm is aptly named Taintchain and is based on a 19th century UK banking law. While law enforcement agencies have become better at tracking addresses that contain stolen bitcoins, it’s not always easy to distinguish who participated in the theft knowingly and who was just an innocent victim. As the scientists refine the algorithm, anyone who participates in the menace that is crypto hacking will account for his actions.