Bitcoin ATM operator Bitcoin Depot: Law enforcement officers are suspected of violating the law by using violent means to withdraw money from ATMs

Last week, Texas police used power tools to retrieve $32,000 from Bitcoin Depot's Bitcoin ATM, Decrypt reported. Chris Ryan, chief legal officer of Bitcoin Depot, the operator of Bitcoin ATMs, said the use of violence by US law enforcement officers to retrieve cash from Bitcoin ATMs was an overreach and may have violated the law. Its chief operating officer Scott Buchanan said the machine had to be completely replaced because law enforcement officers cut open the "entity" of the self-service end point.
An FBI report found that Americans lost at least $247 million through cryptocurrency self-service end points in 2024, a 31 percent increase from 2023.
Previously, the sheriff of Jasper County, Texas, used cutting tools to forcibly dismantle a bitcoin ATM machine in local time, trying to recover the local residents who were defrauded of 25,000 dollars.