US officials have taken control of cryptocurrency funds they say were intended to support Hamas.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on March 27 that it had seized a total of $201,400 in cryptocurrency linked to the group.
The action included freezing a crypto wallet containing $89,900 and three additional accounts that together held around $111,500. Authorities believe these accounts helped move over $1.5 million in crypto for Hamas since October 2024.
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The FBI’s Albuquerque field office was involved in the investigation. The agency worked with the DOJ to trace and block the cryptocurrencies.
Assistant Director David J. Scott of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division stated, “Disrupting funding mechanisms and seizing cryptocurrency from Hamas is one of the FBI’s many tools that we use in the fight against terrorism”.
According to the DOJ, a group chat with ties to Hamas allowed supporters to send funds through at least 17 different wallet addresses. The donations were made using an encrypted messaging service. Additionally, the operation relied on help from financial middlemen and crypto brokers.
US Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. noted, “These seizures show that this office will search high and low for every cent of money going to fund Hamas, wherever it is found, and in whatever form of currency”.
On March 19, Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit, agreed to a plea deal with US prosecutors. What happened? Read the full story.
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