Jefferson City resident Matthew Klinger has been sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to destruction of property. In August 2022, Klinger decided to open fire on a bitcoin (BTC) ATM, thus News Tribune.
Motive for Bitcoin ATM attack
According to a statement from the Jefferson City Police Department, Klinger had asked a store associate about ATMs, also known as bitcoin ATMs, and who to talk to about them. The employee let Klinger use his phone to contact the store manager. Ending the call, Klinger pulled a gun from his pants and fired five shots at the device before leaving the store.
Klinger reportedly later turned himself in to police and admitted to leaving the store and going home to tell his wife what had happened. After contacting the police, he left the gun he had used on a table on the porch of his home. When asked why he fired at the ATM, Klinger reportedly said:
“So it can’t take money from someone else.”
As far as is known, no injuries were reported in the incident, apart from the bitcoin ATM of course. It will most likely have sustained considerable damage after being hit by five bullets.
Crypto ATMs are still growing
It is not the first time that a crypto ATM has been beaten. In 2021 it was already hit in El Salvador. During protests, such a machine was then set on fire.
Despite the senseless violence against the devices, a large number of them can still be used to buy bitcoin. According to Coin ATM Radar has almost 33,000 ATMs, the majority of which are located in the United States. In the Netherlands, however, there are only 19, 5 of which are in Amsterdam.