Israel seizes Hamas linked crypto accounts involved in terrorism funding

On Monday, Israeli officials seized 30 crypto wallets from 12 exchange accounts involved in terrorism funding related to Hamas, a terrorist organization located in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Mutahadun, a cryptocurrency exchange, hosted the wallets where 12 accounts were allegedly used by Hamas operatives to fund acts of terrorism against Israel. According to the Times of Israel, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced on February 28 that al-Mutahadun had aided Hamas’ military wing “by transferring funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars a year.”

Although the exact sum of the seizures and the crypto assets collected is unknown, Israeli officials think Hamas uses “tens of millions of dollars” in cryptocurrency to fuel its military.

Israel aims to destroy terrorism funding from the roots

“We continue to expand our tools to cope with terrorism and the companies supplying it with the economic oxygen pipeline,” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated in a statement.

Law enforcement agencies and banks all around the globe, such as BNY Mellon, are increasingly tracking cryptocurrency transactions in order to identify and prosecute financial crimes. 

However, according to the blockchain transaction tracking service Chainalysis, just a tiny portion of crypto funds are utilized in unlawful behavior.

Since 2019, when economic sanctions began seriously limiting Hamas’ ability to fight Israel, it has accepted crypto donations.

The wallets were seized with the assistance of Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). Last July, the agency carried out a similar seizure of Hamas crypto funds.

The monies confiscated in July were used by al Qassam Brigades, a Hamas military unit, according to crypto tracking firm Cyphertrace.

The use of crypto for philanthropy isn’t limited to terrorism funding. Supporters of the Freedom Convoy in Canada and Ukraine’s anti-Russian opposition group received millions of dollars in crypto donations in the first two months of 2022.

Last November, the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K. decided to spend $670,000 on training staff about crypto terrorism funding. Notably, Israel passed a new AML law in November last year.