U.S. Lawmakers Press Biden Administration to Address Hamas' Crypto Funding The U.S. government is tightening trade restrictions on Hamas-related to entities as Congress presses the Biden administration to do more about the terrorist group’s sources
of crypto funding.
On October 17, over 100 senators petitioned U.S. Treasury and White House officials highlighting how Hamas has already leveraged blockchain-based currency, while asking for clarifications
on what both groups intend to do about it.
Collectively,
both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) “raised over $130 million in crypto, and moved millions among each other,” the senators claimed in their letter, citing the Wall Street Journal.
Some crypto industry analysts believe this figure is grossly exaggerated.
The lawmakers called for the administration’s own
estimates of how much crypto lies in both organization’s wallets, and about what actors are facilitating such token transfers.
“Congress and this Administration must take strong action to thoroughly address crypto illicit finance risks before it can be used to finance another tragedy,” added the letter, referring to attacks from
Hamas on Israeli civilians earlier this month.
