How Hamas, Along With Other Gaza Jihadi Organizations, Raised Over $100 Million In Cryptocurrency
How Hamas, Along With Other Gaza Jihadi Organizations, Raised Over $100 Million In Cryptocurrency
To Fund Their Jihad Against Israel – From 2019 To Today
Steven Stalinsky, Ph.D.* - OCT 23, 2023
Introduction
The Wall Street Journal reported on October 11, 2023 that the October 7 early morning attack on Israel by Hamas had "raised the question how the group financed the surprise operation. One answer: cryptocurrency." It went on to cite recent research showing how as much as $130 million, or even more, in cryptocurrency had been raised since August 2021 by Hamas and its fellow Gaza terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[1]
Even as Hamas launched its attack, its cryptocurrency fundraising campaign – its latest fundraising effort – was in full swing, and these efforts are ongoing. Hamas was one of the first terrorist organization to use cryptocurrency, with attempts at doing so beginning at least as early as 2019.[2] Since then, Hamas supporters have used cryptocurrency to varying extents to fund the organization's activities – and multiple arrests have been made in the U.S. in connection with these efforts.
The MEMRI Cyber & Jihad Lab (CJL) and Jihad & Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) projects are intensively researching this cryptocurrency activity, by monitoring Arabic, Farsi, social media, and official terrorist websites, as well as activity on encrypted platforms. The following report will detail and review Hamas's recent cryptocurrency activity and provide an overview of it since 2019, which funds its "economic jihad."
U.S. Takes Severe Action Against Hamas Cryptocurrency
Several leading members of Congress have underlined the significance of Hamas's cryptocurrency following the attack and questions raised on how the jihadi organization was able to fund it. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tweeted on October 11: "It's alarming and should be a wakeup call for lawmakers and regulators that digital wallets connected to Hamas received millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies."[3] She added: "Crypto is the not-so-secret financial weapon funding terrorist organizations like Hamas, Chinese fentanyl networks and North Korea's missile program."
Also on October 11, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, said that while "Congress's priority right now must be providing robust military, economic, and humanitarian aid to support Israel," it was also important to "confirm key national security nominees who play a critical role in working with their Israeli partners." He added: "While we undertake this work, the Banking and Housing Committee will examine the financing behind Hamas's attacks, including whether cryptocurrency was involved, and what additional economic tools we need to stop state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran, from supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups. As we work to hold anyone who supports terrorism accountable, the administration must freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets."[4]
Earlier, on August 29, 2023, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), senior member of both the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) and the Financial Services Committee, had said: "Cryptocurrency means 'hidden money' – its goal is right there in the name. Pleased to see the U.S. Treasury Department propose rules today that require crypto platforms to report its customers transactions to the IRS – a measure Rep. Stephen Lynch and I urged for earlier this summer."[5]
A bipartisan group of over 100 lawmakers led by Senators Warren and Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Representative Sean Casten (D-IL) signed a letter[6] to the Biden Administration demanding answers over cryptocurrency's role in financing the attack on October 17. The letter also requested that Treasury Department undersecretary Brian Nelson and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan inform them of the administration's plans to address the group's current cryptocurrency capabilities.[7]
Read the letter and view the list of signatories here
Past U.S. government efforts have successfully disrupted the movement of cryptocurrency into Hamas coffers. In a case dating from August 2020, IRS Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, and FBI agents tracked and seized 150 cryptocurrency accounts that moved funds to and from the accounts of Hamas's military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. Law enforcement later seized the Al-Qassam Brigades websites' infrastructure and covertly operated Alqassam.net – which meant that funds in cryptocurrency sent by Hamas supporters with the aim of providing material support to terrorist organization were routed to U.S.-government controlled wallets.[8]
On October 18, 2023, the Biden administration announced new sanctions on Hamas targeting 10 Hamas members, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with ties to Iran, a top Hamas commander, and a Gaza-based cryptocurrency exchange.[9] The Qatar-based facilitator, Muhammad Ahmad 'Abd Al-Dayim Nasrallah, was in recent years involved in the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas and the Al-Qassam Brigades.[10]
Not Just Jihadis: Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, And Antigovernment Extremists Are Also Raising Funds In Cryptocurrency For Hamas
Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and antigovernment extremists on social media platforms have been expressing unprecedented support for Hamas, its killing of civilians, and its calls for killing Jews in general. It is no surprise that these same groups have also been trying to financially support Hamas using cryptocurrency and other means. As one Neo-Nazi wrote on Telegram, "there are strategic advantages to pro-white and Arab groups in pooling legal resources against Zionists."
An example of this happening in crypto is the "National Socialist" group on one of the leading extremist platforms. A user shared, on October 15, 2023, cryptocurrency addresses for Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrency, and added: "Personally, I hope my donation goes towards the paraglider fund. They could use some relaxation and recreation." The reference is to the Hamas members who used paragliders, inter alia, to enter southern Israel to carry out their October 7, 2023 attack.
The Most Recent Hamas Cryptocurrency Campaign, Ongoing As Hamas Launched Its Attack, Is Still Online And Accepting Funds In Ethereum Cryptocurrency
A pro-Hamas Gaza-based news agency called "Gaza Now" has fundraised in and accepted donations in cryptocurrency for Hamas over the past two years. As a MEMRI JTTM report revealed, the agency initially used Bitcoin, and then moved to Ethereum. In a June 9, 2021 message on its Telegram channel,[11] it solicited donations for the Hamas military wing, the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the E.U., the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K.
The message provided a contact email for donations[12] – the same email used by the Brigades themselves to solicit donations in Bitcoin.[13] Gaza Now's Facebook page had, at the time of writing, over three million followers,[14] as it did on its Instagram,[15] Twitter,[16] and Telegram[17] accounts and on its own website.[18] The call for cryptocurrency donations appeared only on its Telegram channel. According to a report that Forbes cited, crypto wallet addresses that Gaza Now uses have seen about $6 million in incoming and outgoing volume and about $6,000 since the October 7 attack.[19]
"Gaza Now" promoted, on its Telegram account on October 9, 2023, a fundraising campaign for Gaza, in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel.[20] The posts promoted donation options including money transfer apps, social media accounts, and crypto wallets, including in U.S. dollars or Euros via Wise money transfer app and through bank accounts located in Belgium and the U.S.[21]