A bunch of thirty crypto wallets from 12 exchange accounts tied to the terrorist group Hamas based in the Gaza Strip were confiscated by Israeli authorities. Crypto exchange al-Mutahadun held the wallets where twelve accounts were being utilized by Hamas bosses to finance terrorist efforts against Israel. Hamas has been approving crypto subsidies since 2019 when financial sanctions started restricting its capacity to battle against Israel. The Times of Israel announced that Israel’s Defense Ministry said that al-Mutahadun has assisted Hamas by providing funds, tens of millions of dollars a year.
The total amount of crypto assets seized is not yet clearly revealed. Israeli officials speculate Hamas utilizes tens of millions of dollars in crypto funds to finance its military. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that they are in the process to expand their tools to deal with terrorism and the firms providing it with the economic oxygen pipeline. Law enforcement agencies and banks around the globe have been tracing crypto transactions to identify and legislate on financial criminals. Blockchain transaction tracing company Chainalysis has indicated that only a small fraction of crypto accounts are used in a criminal action.
The confiscation of wallets was done with the help of Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), which performed a similar kind of seizure of Hamas in the July of 2021. Crypto-based generosity is by no means curbed to funding terrorism. At the beginning of 2022, proponents of the Freedom Convoy in Canada and Ukraine’s resistance force against Russia have put forward millions in crypto donations. In January, crypto exchange Binance suspended assistance and marketing to Israelis upon request from the Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Authority. The suspension is to be in effect as long as the Authority examines the significance of Binance’s license to trade in the nation.
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