Israeli law enforcement authorities have issued an order to close cryptocurrency accounts associated with the Hamas group. The Financial Times reports this. In addition, local authorities ordered the seizure of millions of dollars in crypto assets.
The report also said that since the beginning of the Hamas attack on Israel, more than 100 accounts on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange have been closed. In addition, law enforcement officers requested information about another 200 addresses.
Binance representatives confirmed to the Financial Times that a “small number” of accounts have been blocked on the exchange since the summer of 2023. They added that the platform adheres to internationally recognized sanctions rules.
The executive director of Israel's National Cyber Authority, Tom Aleksandrovich, stated:
“In this period of war, cryptocurrency is the main problem for terror financing, since there are no other options. Since the attack began, the amount of crypto donations has increased significantly.”
According to journalists, since the start of hostilities, about 150 fundraising initiatives associated with Hamas and other groups have been identified.
Let us recall that earlier analysts reported that the groups Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) and others received about $1 billion in stablecoins.
Also, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether, froze 32 addresses worth about $835 million related to the financing of terrorist organizations, as well as wars in Ukraine and Israel.
