Bitcoin ATMs are a rapidly growing presence in the United States and, some experts say, a rapidly growing cybercrime menace. ATMs dealing in bitcoin are similar to their cash cousins: there are PINs to punch and withdrawal fees, just like any other ATM.
Unlike cash ATMs, though, the high value of crypto makes them prime targets for hackers. So, while a cash ATM tucked away between the snack cakes and energy drinks at a gas station may not draw much attention, a bitcoin ATM gets more scrutiny from bad actors.
“It’s clear that these machines are particularly vulnerable to both physical and cyber threats, making them a prime target for hackers and thieves,” said Timothy Bates, clinical professor of cybersecurityat the University of Michigan’s College of Innovation and Technology.
Bitcoin ATMs can be susceptible to attacks where hackers install malware on the machines to capture private keys, steal funds, or manipulate transactions, which Bates said is “especially concerning for ATMs that may not receive regular software updates or security patches.” Network vulnerabilities are also a weak spot. “If the machine’s network communications are not adequately secured, attackers can intercept data transfers between the ATM and the server, leading to data theft or unauthorized access,” Bates said.
Whether it’s hackers or scammers, the government is sounding the alarm about bitcoin ATMs. The Federal Trade Commission reported this week that scam incidents have risen by 1,000% since 2020.
Ironically, a bitcoin ATM’s risks are directly related to its strengths, according to Joe Dobson, principal analyst at Mandiant, a Google Cloud-owned cybersecurity company. Bitcoin is decentralized, permission-less, and immutable. “A transaction cannot be reversed or recalled if funds are deposited to the wrong address,” Dobson said. And while many crypto bulls find bitcoin’s lack of governance appealing, that can be problematic in ATMs. “There is no governing body within bitcoin dictating who can or cannot run a bitcoin ATM, hence many independent organizations operate the ATMs,” Dobson said.
There are also old criminal tricks that might be reversible in a traditional banking situation, but in the world of bitcoin, that is not so. For example, someone could maliciously slip their personal deposit slips into the stack at the bank, tricking folks into depositing money into their account. “A similar attack can happen with bitcoin ATMs,” Dobson said. “If an attacker compromises a bitcoin ATM, they may change the receiving wallet address (or ‘account number’), effectively stealing user funds.”
But in addition to old tricks, there are newer threats bitcoin ATMs introduce that cash ATMs do not face. Many bitcoin ATMs require personally identifiable information, such as an ID or even a Social Security number to comply with financial industry Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. This information could be at risk if a bitcoin ATM is compromised.
In Middletown, Ohio, at the Middletown Food Mart in a hollowed-out end of town, a Bitcoin Depot ATM sits opposite a regular cash ATM, blending in among the potato chips, bottled water, and beer. Middletown’s claim to fame lately is as the hometown of Donald Trump’s running mate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who has refashioned himself, similar to Trump, as a pro-cryptocurrency warrior. The Middletown Food Mart sits across the street from where Vance grew up.
‘Elon Musk told me to do it.’
Sai Patel, whose family owns Middletown Food Mart, says the bitcoin ATM isn’t very busy.
“Maybe once a month someone comes in to use it,” Patel said. And if it is someone new, Patel will patiently explain how the machine works. He also keeps an eye out for unusual activity. Although the bitcoin ATM isn’t exactly drawing crowds, Patel says a surprising number of senior citizens show up at the kiosk, alarming given the rise of bitcoin ATM scams targeting seniors.
“Elderly people come in and use it,” Patel said.
He described one encounter where an elderly woman entered his shop and headed for the bitcoin ATM, then attempted to send a lot of money somewhere but had questions about using the machine. When Patel asked the woman a few questions as to why, she said, “Elon Musk told me to do it.” Patel quickly realized she had fallen prey to a scam. “I told her, no, no, no, it’s a scam,” Patel said, and he stopped her from dumping her life savings into the machine.
Alice Frei, head of security and compliance at blockchain communications & consulting agency Outset PR, says bitcoin ATM fraud is costly, enhanced by the sometimes shadowy world of crypto.
“Cryptocurrencies are easily exchanged online, often without clear identification of the parties involved. Criminals exploit this anonymity and move money almost invisibly, often employing techniques such as cross-blockchain ‘bridges’ to further obscure transactions,” she said.
And then there’s the fact that an ATM scam probably doesn’t originate in the town where it occurs. “Many crypto exchanges involved in these activities are based offshore, beyond the reach of regulators, making it difficult to trace and recover stolen funds,” Frei added.
Basic steps to avoid bitcoin ATM scams
To protect against these scams, users should be cautious and skeptical of any request to pay through a bitcoin ATM. Legitimate businesses rarely, if ever, demand payment in bitcoin through a machine.
“Verifying the legitimacy of a transaction, particularly checking the recipient’s wallet for connections to questionable entities is crucial,” Frei said, adding that users should also use licensed ATMs from reputable operators to reduce the risk.
Frei said there are steps that users can take to verify the ownership and legitimacy of a bitcoin ATM or parties involved in transactions.
“You can verify the recipient address by checking for flagged activity on platforms like Chainabuse and running an AML check on the address using available tools,” she said, If these tools show the risk score above 70%, it’s advisable to avoid sending money. “Instead, contact the ATM operator or the person who provided the address to clarify the situation,” Frei added.
According to Frei, data shows that nearly 74% of ATMs globally are managed by just 10 operators.
The largest operator of bitcoin ATMs, Bitcoin Depot, operates over 8,000 ATMs. Its CEO Brandon Mintz says the company’s machines are designed to deter hackers. But he also disputes the claims that bitcoin ATMs are major hacking targets.
“Bitcoin ATMs aren’t typically high-priority targets for cybercriminals due to the separation of the hardware and the bitcoin wallet environments,” Mintz said. Bitcoin Depot does not store any bitcoin locally at a bitcoin ATM, and there are many layers of verification and approval processes that prevent unauthorized access to the Bitcoin Depot wallet, he said.
Additionally, Mintz said, most bitcoin ATMs, including Bitcoin Depot’s, only accept cash, so this removes the ability for criminals to use card skimmers like they can install on traditional cash ATMs. However, he says users do need to be aware of scams, and some of the same basic protocols that protect consumers from old-fashioned financial scams apply to the world of cryptocurrency as well.
“Customers of bitcoin ATMs should never send bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to unknown digital wallets or individuals they don’t know and trust. It’s important to remain vigilant and skeptical of anyone asking for cryptocurrency payments, especially if the request comes with a sense of urgency or threat,” Mintz said.
As the market leader, Bitcoin Depot has been a target of litigation and the company disclosed in its S-1 filing before going public that its users “have been and could be targeted in cybersecurity incidents like an account takeover.” A South Carolina woman sued Bitcoin Depot after falling victim to an alleged cryptocurrency scam. In another instance, authorities in Texas intervened to return money from a Bitcoin Depot ATM after a woman fell victim to a scam.
And that points to a central irony of bitcoin and the bitcoin ATM, products of technology, but ones where the most powerful weapon against fraud isn’t more technology but responsibility, Dobson said. “User responsibility is paramount in cryptocurrency. There is little recompense if something goes awry. The onus is largely on the user to take steps.”
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Jim Lo Scalzo | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tesla shares have dropped 7% from Friday’s closing price of $323.63to the $300.71 close on Tuesday ahead of the company’s second-quarter deliveries report.
Wall Street analysts are expecting Tesla to report deliveries of around 387,000 — a 13% decline compared to deliveries of nearly 444,000 a year ago, according to a consensus compiled by FactSet. Prediction market Kalshi told CNBC on Tuesday that its traders forecast deliveries of around 364,000.
Shares in the electric vehicle maker had been rising after Tesla started a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in late June and CEO Elon Musk boasted of its first “driverless delivery” of a car to a customer there.
The stock price took a turn after Musk on Saturday reignited a feud with President Donald Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the massive spending bill that the commander-in-chief endorsed. The bill is now heading for a final vote in the House.
That legislation would benefit higher-income households in the U.S. while slashing spending on programs such as Medicaid and food assistance.
Musk did not object to cuts to those specific programs. However, Musk on X said the bill would worsen the U.S. deficit and raise the debt ceiling. The bill includes tax cuts that would add around $3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
The Tesla CEO has also criticized aspects of the bill that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars in support for renewable energy development in the U.S. and phase out tax credits for electric vehicles.
Such changes could hurt Tesla as they are expected to lower EV sales by roughly 100,000 vehicles per year by 2035, according to think tank Energy Innovation.
The bill is also expected to reduce renewable energy development by more than 350 cumulative gigawatts in that same time period, according to Energy Innovation. That could pressure Tesla’s Energy division, which sells solar and battery energy storage systems to utilities and other clean energy project developers.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Musk was, “upset that he’s losing his EV mandate,” but that the tech CEO could “lose a lot more than that.” Trump was alluding to the subsidies, incentives and contracts that Musk’s many businesses have relied on.
SpaceX has received over $22 billion from work with the federal government since 2008, according to FedScout, which does federal spending and government contract research. That includes contracts from NASA, the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, among others.
Tesla has reported $11.8 billion in sales of “automotive regulatory credits,” or environmental credits, since 2015, according to an evaluation of the EV maker’s financial filings by Geoff Orazem, CEO of FedScout.
These incentives are largely derived from federal and state regulations in the U.S. that require automakers to sell some number of low-emission vehicles or buy credits from companies like Tesla, which often have an excess.
Regulatory credit sales go straight to Tesla’s bottom line. Credit revenue amounted to approximately 60% of Tesla’s net income in the second quarter of 2024.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leaves Aman Venice hotel, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025.
Yara Nardi | Reuters
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unloaded more than 3.3 million shares of his company in a sale valued at roughly $736.7 million, according to a financial filing on Tuesday.
The stock sale is part of a previously arranged trading plan adopted by Bezos in March. Under that arrangement, Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares of Amazon over a period ending May 29, 2026.
Bezos, who stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021 but remains chairman, has been selling stock in the company at a regular clip in recent years, though he’s still the largest individual shareholder. He adopted a similar trading plan in February 2024 to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock through late January of this year.
Bezos previously said he’d sell about $1 billion in Amazon stock each year to fund his space exploration company, Blue Origin. He’s also donated shares to Day 1 Academies, his nonprofit that’s building a chain of Montessori-inspired preschools across several states.
The most recent stock sale comes after Bezos and Lauren Sanchez tied the knot last week in a lavish wedding in Venice. The star-studded celebration, which took place over three days and sparked protests from some local residents, was estimated to cost around $50 million.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the crowd during Google’s annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California on May 20, 2025.
Camille Cohen | AFP | Getty Images
The Google Doodle is Alphabet’s most valuable piece of real estate, and on Tuesday, the company used that space to promote “AI Mode,” its latest AI search product.
Google’s Chrome browser landing pages and Google’s home page featured an animated image that, when clicked, leads users to AI Mode, the company’s latest search product. The doodle image also includes a share button.
The promotion of AI Mode on the Google Doodle comes as the tech company makes efforts to expose more users to its latest AI features amid pressure from artificial intelligence startups. That includes OpenAI which makes ChatGPT, Anthropic which makes Claude and Perplexity AI, which bills itself as an “AI-powered answer engine.”
Google’s “Doodle” Tuesday directed users to its search chatbot-like experience “AI Mode”
AI Mode is Google’s chatbot-like experience for complex user questions. The company began displaying AI Mode alongside its search results page in March.
“Search whatever’s on your mind and get AI-powered responses,” the product description reads when clicked from the home page.
AI Mode is powered by Google’s flagship AI model Gemini, and the tool has rolled out to more U.S. users since its launch. Users can ask AI Mode questions using text, voice or images. Google says AI Mode makes it easier to find answers to complex questions that might have previously required multiple searches.
In May, Google tested the AI Mode feature directly beneath the Google search bar, replacing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” widget — a place where Google rarely makes changes.