As a former quant trader turned crypto analyst, I never thought my 6-year-old daughter’s question—'Daddy, why do machines steal money?'—would lead me to dissect this $300K fine. Coinme’s violation of CA’s $1k/day crypto ATM cap exposed systemic flaws in digital finance: regulatory blind spots, poor disclosure, and the terrifying irony of treating ATMs like grocery store cash registers. This isn’t just a penalty—it’s a case study in how opacity becomes policy.