US Treasury Department Warns Crypto Firms Against Facilitating Terrorism Financing Amid Hamas-Israel Conflict

Crypto firms accused of fueling Hamas-Israel conflict through terror financing; US Treasury steps up regulation efforts, sanctions companies and urges industry to curb illicit transactions.

• The US Treasury Department is increasing its scrutiny of cryptocurrency firms suspected of enabling terrorist financing, following revelations that digital currencies may have been used to fund recent attacks on Israel by Hamas.
• Last week, the Treasury imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and entities linked to Hamas, as well as on a Gaza-based digital currency exchange for facilitating Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency services.
• During a speech, US Deputy Treasury Secretary, Wally Adeyemo stressed that the US would use every tool available to target any person or platform facilitating terrorist funding and urged financial institutions and digital asset companies to prevent such illicit transactions.
• According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, based on data from crypto research firm Elliptic, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah raised around $93 million in crypto prior to the attacks.
• Despite cryptocurrencies not currently constituting the majority of terrorist funding, the US is taking actions to prevent the technology from being used more widely for illicit finance in the future.

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