Terrorism Funding Claims Contradicted by Lack of Evidence for Substantial Crypto Donations to Hamas
Blockchain analytics company Elliptic refuted claims on Wednesday that Hamas received millions in crypto donations in the months leading up to its attack on Israel earlier this month.
Elliptic stated in a blog post that there is “no evidence to support the assertion that Hamas has received significant volumes of crypto donations.”
This contradicts an article published in The Wall Street Journal last week titled “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto,” which alleged that Hamas raised over $130 million in cryptocurrency between August 2021 and June 2022.
The Wall Street Journal article has been referenced by US lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who co-signed a letter with over 100 members of Congress urging the White House and Treasury Department to crack down on cryptocurrencies due to their alleged use in funding Hamas operations.
However, Elliptic claims the data has been misinterpreted.
“There is no evidence to suggest that crypto fundraising has raised anything close to this amount,” the analytics firm wrote in its blog post.
While acknowledging that Hamas has experimented with cryptocurrency fundraising in recent years, Elliptic stated these efforts have yielded only “tiny” amounts compared to other funding sources. The transparency of blockchains enables authorities to trace and freeze crypto accounts linked to Hamas.
“The unique traceability of these assets has meant that the amounts raised remain tiny compared to other funding sources,” said Elliptic.
Critical context missing from the @WSJ piece on Hamas and crypto:
In April 2023, Hamas warned its donors to STOP sending Bitcoin.
Why? Because the transparent nature of the blockchain had Western intelligence following their every
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