Hamas Gathered Millions in Cryptocurrency; Who Funded the War?

Hamas’s recent attack on Israel has stunned the world and simultaneously raised dozens of questions. The first and foremost question that is troubling the masses is how the organization funded its attack.

The Wall Street Journal reported that three organizations, namely Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Hezbollah, acquired substantial amounts of funds through cryptocurrency. WSJ reported the names based on the data from the Israeli government and blockchain analytics.

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a Hamas militant wing, received approximately $100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC).

Elliptic data states that Palestinian Islamic Jihad gathered over $92 Million in crypto from August 2021 to June 2023; moreover, Hamas received $41 Million in the same duration of time.

After data validating the funding, the Israeli government has taken severe actions against the accounts associated and has frozen the accounts that received funding.

The police officials of Israel claim that the motive behind freezing this account is to bar the flow of money that the Hamas group collected through social media campaigns.

The number of accounts frozen is unknown, but regulators are working with a major crypto exchange to act. Hamas abstained from fundraising through cryptocurrencies in April 2023, citing “hostile” activities against donors.

Reuters reported Israel’s crackdown over crypto accounts allegedly associated with the Islamic State and Hamas in May.

Is Hamas the First Terrorist Organization to Use Crypto?

As per reports from leading media outlets, the attack on Israel was solely funded by cryptocurrencies. The claims of cryptocurrency funding were made by dozens of blockchain analytic companies, including Elliptic and Tel Aviv.

A surge in donations occurred in May, aligning with a period of increased conflict involving rocket attacks between Israel and Hamas. The majority of these transactions were conducted using one of the leading cryptocurrency exchange.

Iran, which contributes a substantial $100 million annually, as reported by the U.S. government, is the predominant source of financial support.

Hamas, officially the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization currently governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories. While headquartered in Gaza City, it is also in the West Bank, where Fatah exercises control.

The entire crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $23.3B, which makes an 11.20% decrease.

The total volume of the overall DeFi category is currently $1.8B, 7.72% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stablecoins is now $21.95B, 94.21% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume.

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