Israel begins seizing Bitcoin donations collected by Hamas – Bitcoin News
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz has ordered the seizure of cryptocurrency funds raised by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. His department has reportedly begun to take control of digital wallets used by the terror group to raise crypto donations from abroad.
Israel Defense Ministry targets crypto addresses used by Hamas
Minister Gantz approved the seizure of the wallets on June 30, the Times of Israel reported on Friday. The National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) released a list of targeted addresses and wallet details that Hamas uses to raise funds in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. They were identified during a joint operation with the Department of Defense.
The release adds that cryptocurrency holdings are managed from the Gaza Strip, which is under the control of Hamas. The wallets were used by the Palestinian organization to raise money from foreign sources following the 11-day conflict with Israel in May. The seizure hit the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
According to a blog post by blockchain forensics company Chainalysis, the research mainly focused on analyzing open source intelligence such as social media posts and blockchain data. The blockchain analysis shows the movement of donations to exchanges. Chainalysis released a graph showing Bitcoin transactions made from addresses listed by the NBCTF, many of which were attributed to people involved in fundraising campaigns.
“The orange hexagons represent deposit addresses hosted by a major mainstream cryptocurrency exchange and controlled by individuals named in the NBCTF announcement,” explains Chainalysis. “In the graph we see how funds from Hamas donation addresses have flowed to these exchange addresses and are often first routed through intermediary wallets, high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges and monetary services companies (MSBs),” the company said.
According to the report, two addresses mentioned in the announcement received funds from addresses associated with the Idlib office of Bitcoin Transfer, a Syrian cryptocurrency exchange related to terrorist financing cases. A third address received funding from a Middle East-based MSB that had previously received funding from the Ibn Taymiyya Media Center (ITMC), another organization involved in the financing of terrorism.
In addition to BTC, the ministry has intercepted payments in ETH, XRP, USDT and DOGE, claims the Times of Israel. The crypto cash was seized in accordance with Israel’s 2016 Anti-Terrorism Act. In a statement released by the Department of Defense, Benny Gantz was quoted as saying:
The intelligence, technological, and legal tools that enable us to get hold of terrorists’ money around the world represent an operational breakthrough.
Seizure of Hamas funds proves Bitcoin is a “safe” currency
According to Noa Mashiah, CEO of the Israeli Bitcoin Association, “the seizure and confiscation of Hamas’ donations prove that Bitcoin is a safe currency.” He stated that “criminals using this financial system will find out the hard way that the open transaction log, blockchain, will expose them and allow law enforcement to take action against them.”
The executive said the news of the seizure “represents a significant improvement on the anti-money laundering ban and also on international bank accounts hidden behind a wall of banking secrecy”. He insisted that the operation proves that regulators in Israel should “adopt and use” bitcoin “as it enables the bad to be exposed and good to be done with good.”
“As soon as you cross the boundaries of the blockchain into the worlds of trading platforms, you immediately lose anonymity and then states and law enforcement agencies can locate and freeze the currencies of criminal and terrorist organizations as in the present case,” added Omri Segev Moyal, CEO of the cybersecurity company Profero , add. He also noted that “when the network is fully exposed, you can very closely follow the trajectory of the coins and locate their final destination”.
Hamas urged its supporters to send bitcoin in 2019 when the Islamist movement needed the money to solve its financial problems. A few months later, the terror group set up an experimental program to raise money through a sophisticated system designed to facilitate international cryptocurrency donations.
What do you think of Israel’s seizure of cryptocurrency funds by Hamas? Do share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
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