In the United States, a cryptocurrency adversary shoots up a cryptocurrency ATM and immediately confesses to everything

Matthew Klinger, a 51-year-old resident of Jefferson City, Missouri, received a five-year supervised release after admitting to shooting at a bitcoin ATM with a handgun.

Klinger arrived at the Vapor Maven on Missouri Boulevard last August and asked to speak to the store’s general manager. He then pulled out a handgun, fired five shots at a crypto ATM, and left. Klinger told investigators that he then went home, confessed to his wife and called the police. He also left the gun on the porch of his house.

When asked about his motives for the shooting, he said he shot up the bitcoin ATM «so he couldn’t take money from anyone else.»

Last week, he pleaded guilty to first-degree property damage and received a five-year suspended sentence under supervision. Such offenders are assigned to a law enforcement officer who monitors their actions. It is an alternative form of imprisonment, but can lead to prison time if misbehaved.

Over the past few years, the number of BTC ATMs has increased significantly (mainly due to the bull market and high interest in cryptocurrencies in 2021). The first such machine was launched in October 2013, and now there are more than 35,000 of them.

In the United States, where the aforementioned shooting took place, there are 32,650 bitcoin ATMs, and the United States is the undisputed leader in this statistic. Canada ranks second with 2,669, and Australia is third with 276. Spain, Poland, and El Salvador round out the top 5.