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Bitcoin ATM Stolen During Raid In Barcelona

Crypto-related crimes have been on the rise in Spain in recent times. The most recent incident is the case of a stolen Bitcoin ATM in Barcelona.

Related Reading | Data Shows Crypto Hacks And Fraud In 2021 Are On Track For A New Record

Bitcoin ATMs are kiosks that allow a person to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by using cash or debit card. According to this website, Spain has the highest number of crypto ATMs in Europe. With 185 ATMs, it is also the fourth highest in the world.

Bitcoin ATM Theft

Local news reported on Friday that the Spanish police are investigating the theft of a Bitcoin ATM. The thieves stole the machine in a raid on a cryptocurrency exchange outlet in a wealthy Barcelona neighborhood.
The police force of Catalonia, Mossos d’Esquadra, said that the ATM theft happened around 3 a.m. They however did not provide any further information on the case to avoid hindering the investigation.

According to the news agency, police sources said thieves took the ATM from a shop on Beethoven street in the Sarria area. The area houses a branch of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). GBTC reportedly declined to comment, and the police also refused to confirm the exact location of the robbery.

BTC trading at $64.16K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

An unverified video that surfaced showed an SUV crashing into the GBTC storefront. Afterward, some hooded people from another car made away with the ATM.

This incident is just the most recent of the bitcoin-related crimes in Spain. A few days ago, a Spanish techpreneur reported that he had been robbed. Zaryn Dentzel, the victim, is the co-founder of Tuenti, a Spanish social network-turned communications firm owned by Telefónica telecommunications company.

He claimed that four or five hooded people robbed him of millions of Euros worth of crypto from his house in Madrid. They blindfolded him, covered his home’s security cameras, and beat him up. He was then forced to give up the password to an online account containing his cryptocurrencies which held tens of millions of euros in Bitcoin. However, the thieves were unsuccessful in stealing any of his cryptos.

Crypto Crime On The Rise

Crypto attacks are hardly rare. They occur more frequently than most people think, mostly through hacks, phishing scams, ransom attacks, and fake advertisements.
A couple of the most popular attacks this year are the $600 million Poly Network attack and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

Related Reading | Over $5 Billion In BTC Paid In Top 10 Ransomware Variants, Says U.S. Treasury

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the total value of suspected ransomware payments during the first half of 2021 was $590 million. Also, roughly $5.2 billion in outgoing BTC payments were tied to the top 10 ransomware variants over the past three years.

Many Bitcoin crimes have also been recorded in the U.K., Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, to name a few.

Featured image by Coin ATM Finder, Chart from TradingView.com

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German Investment Firm Plans To Add Bitcoin To Its Offerings

The $500 billion German asset manager speeds up plans to adopt crypto after assessing Bitcoin certificates.

The DZ bank group investment arm Union Investment makes another move to provide crypto investment services to individual investors. They intend to convert a small percentage of their funds to BTC.

Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course

Union Investment is knowns as the investment arm of DZ Bank Group, an organization with more than 800 cooperative banks. They had an asset worth $507 billion under management as of June 30. This makes the investment company one of the biggest asset managers in Germany.

Union Investments Conducting A Crypto Experiment

According to sources, the portfolio manager revealed the Company’s intention to convert 1-2% of their portfolio to BTC. However, David Barthe added that they’re yet to fix the date the plan will kick off in Q4.

This idea emerged after the company’s first addition of crypto to a mixed fund known as Private Funds Flexible Pro. They came like Delta one certificates early this year. Delta certificates expose investors to assets in a manner that looks like they are the owners already.

Kamil Kaczmarski is a renonwn consultant for Oliver Wyman financial service providers. He revealed that his firm had observed the high interest in crypto existing within the fund manager lately. Currently, union investment has a total sum of $500 billion worth of assets under management.

Bringing Bitcoin To The Masses

Developments like the ones at Union Investment are among the many that make crypto exposure easier for an average person. Further assistance from Germans S Brokers issued Stocks, ETFs, and 40 BTC certificates recently. This will give customers access to a wide range of crypto assets to invest in

This means suspension of access to Bitcoin ETF in the US. It’s not in SEC plans to approve institutions like that currently, and they may wait till 2023 before considering it.

A bitcoin ETF is a digital currency that mimics the BTC price,  the most popular digital currency. It allows investors to buy into the ETF without following the complicated process of trading bitcoin itself.

Related Reading | Bitfinex To Roll Out Security Token Offerings (STOs) Platform In Kazakhstan

Recently, ATM installations are increasing greatly, providing a more friendly option of purchasing and selling BTC to wallet owners. Statistics show that most ATM installations are done in the US.

Bitcoin is still trying to recover its previous losses | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

A BTC ATM is a kiosk allowing individuals to buy Bitcoin and other cryptos with a debit card or cash. Bitcoin cash kiosks are similar to traditional Automated Teller Machines, except they don’t connect to any bank account. Instead, they directly connect users to a Bitcoin exchange or wallet; 42,266 BTC ATMs in the United States.

Featured Image From Pixabay, Chart From TradingView.Com