Plot twist: the thieves stole the ATM with the intention of stealing the bitcoin rather than stealing the cash.
Lol. I know that's (probably) not true, but it sure as hell would be funny if someone did something like this with that intention. Well, funny in a dark humor kind of way.
And I hope they are happy with what they get from the inside of the ATM or it was just useless papers.
They probably were very happy with whatever they got, because fiat currency in the US isn't just useless paper. If you found hundreds or thousands of dollars in a bag on the street, I assume you wouldn't just turn up your nose at it and keep walking.
I already regret putting Bitcoin Discussion on un-ignore status, seeing how many crap posts there are in this thread, the first one I clicked on. But it's an interesting thread.
This story making the news isn't a good thing for
BTCATMs, IMO. Law enforcement and regulators are probably going to look at this and start thinking about new laws they can pass to protect us all. I wouldn't be surprised if in a year or two we won't be seeing free-standing
BTCATMs in gas stations and liquor stores. Hopefully someone has a cache of photos of the ones that exist now, because they'll be fond memories in the not-too-distant future.