Wall Street Journal: Hamas has raised millions of dollars in cryptocurrency donations

By Ben Schiller, Consensus Magazine; Compiled: Pine Snow, Golden Finance

According to the Wall Street Journal, based on data from forensic firm Elliptic and Tel Aviv software company BitOK, Hamas and its affiliates have received millions of dollars in cryptocurrency donations.

According to Elliptic, Palestinian Islamic Jihad received $93 million in cryptocurrency between August 2021 and June 2023. Hamas received about $41 million in the same time period, the report said.

Cryptocurrencies are often seen as a funding method for groups and countries that have escaped the U.S.-controlled global financial system. For example, North Korean hackers have obtained millions of dollars in cryptocurrency by hacking into various protocols and projects. Due to the privacy-preserving nature of many cryptocurrencies, these flows are difficult to track, causing anxiety among government agencies. ”

"It's not an easy task," Israeli Defense Minister Yof Garrant told the Wall Street Journal.

In June of this year, it was reported that Hamas's radical faction, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, had received up to $100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) since the beginning of 2021, with donations surging in May, when Israel and Hamas fired rockets at each other. According to data from three blockchain analytics firms and analysis by CoinDesk, Binance is at the center of the transaction.

Still, cryptocurrencies are not the main source of funding for Hamas and its affiliates. According to the U.S. government, Iran is by far the largest source of funding, amounting to $100 million a year.

"Cryptocurrencies are only a small part of Hamas' fundraising strategy. It's mostly state-funded," said Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. "People are focusing on it because they are trying to cut off access to financing by various means, but it's only a relatively small part of the overall picture."