The US Justice Department seized $201,400 in cryptocurrency and a network of digital wallets intended for the support of Hamas, the department’s Office of Public Affairs announced.
An encrypted group chat claiming association with Hamas allegedly provided donors with a shifting set of at least 17 cryptocurrency addresses, with funds reportedly sent to a wallet and laundered through a series of virtual currency exchanges and transactions by financiers and brokers, according to the Thursday press release.
It was alleged that over $1.5 million in cryptocurrency had been laundered for Hamas through this system since October.
An account valued at $89,900 and three more totaling about $111,500 were seized in the FBI Albuquerque field office-led investigation. The accounts were registered in the names of Palestinians living in Turkey and other locations.
FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director David J. Scott said, “Disrupting funding mechanisms and seizing cryptocurrency from Hamas is one of the FBI’s many tools that we use in the fight against terrorism.”
FBI Albuquerque Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda stated that disrupting funds weakened the terrorist organization’s ability to function.
Financial warfare is critical in fight against terror
“This success demonstrates that financial warfare is a critical component to fight terrorism,” Bujanda said. ‘We will continue to do everything in our power to protect the American people and pursue justice by depriving terrorist organizations of the resources they need to continue their illicit activity.”
Interim District of Columbia US Attorney Edward Martin Jr. reminded in the press release that Hamas was responsible for the death of US and Israeli citizens, and Justice Department National Security Division head Sue Bai promised that the government body was committed to dismantling Hamas.
Hamas is no stranger to using cryptocurrencies to gather funds.
In 2023, Binance settled with the US Department of the Treasury, paying over $4 billion dollars for failing to prevent and report transactions to Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Binance was sued last February by October 7 massacre victims for facilitating Hamas and PIJ funding that they allege was later used in the 2023 pogrom in southern Israel.
A 2021 Coindesk analysis alleged that Hamas received up to $100,000 in bitcoin during that year leading up to Operation Guardian of the Walls.