Hamas' Armed Wing Will Stop Accepting Bitcoin Donations (Report)

Hamas' Armed Wing Will Stop Accepting Bitcoin Donations (Report)

The armed wing of the suspected terrorist organization Hamas – Al-Qassam Brigades – will reportedly stop receiving Bitcoin donations due to concerns for the safety of donors.

Israeli authorities have previously estimated that the company financed some of its military campaigns through cryptocurrencies. The Department of Defense seized over 100 digital wallets linked to the group in recent years.

Return to traditional methods

A local media companyreportedthat the military wing of the Islamic resistance movement will no longer receive funding via Bitcoin, a method the organization has used for years. The main reason for the move appears to be improved donor protection.

“This is done out of concern for the safety of donors and to protect them from harm,” Al-Qassam Brigades said.

Gaza economist Mohammad Abu JayyabbelievesThe organization has stopped crypto donations because it fears that Israeli authorities could identify the people who transferred money this way or reach their wallets. He also suggested that Al-Qassam Brigades aimed to move to traditional funding methods or find more advanced options.

According to numerous countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, Hamas is a terrorist group, meaning it is illegal to provide it with funding, training or any type of military support.

U.S. authorities halted a joint attempt by Hamas, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to raise funds through digital assets, seizing $2 million worth of crypto in 2020.

According to Reuters, the Palestinian organization received the most Bitcoin donations from the Muslim world, most of which support its fight against Israel.

Israel's counterattack

Multiple sources have claimed over the years that Hamas has used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin and Tether in its terrorist actions. Israel's National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing conducted a successful operation against the group in 2021.confiscate84 associated digital wallets.

London-based blockchain analytics provider Elliptic found that these addresses received over $7.7 million worth of crypto. However, it noted that not all funds should be linked to terrorism:

"Some of the addresses are part of larger services, and not all of these funds may be linked to terrorism. When calculating this number, we excluded funds sent to addresses known to be used by services such as exchanges to receive deposits from multiple users."

The Israeli Defense Ministry joined forces with the police and military to carry out another operation against Hamas a year later. The collaborationconfiscated30 cryptocurrency wallets from 12 accounts belonging to al-Mutahadun: an exchange that allegedly funded the Palestinian entity.

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