There were more than 150 cryptocurrency wallets blacklisted by the Israeli government for allegedly funding terrorist groups. The Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court issued a decision allowing the government to confiscate all cryptocurrencies in these wallets. Among the cryptos to be seized are coins like DOGE. Here are the details…
Wallets linked to Hamas seized
According to a report in Israeli media on December 18, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the court’s decision on December 15 had already allowed authorities to seize another $33,500 in crypto wallets linked to the Islamist militant group Hamas. Prior to the court ruling, Israeli authorities were only legally allowed to seize crypto assets directly linked to terrorist activities. However, confiscation of additional funds in the same wallets was not allowed. In December 2021, authorities confiscated $750,000 from wallets.
Hamas, which has been the de facto governing authority in Palestine’s Gaza Strip since 2007, is classified as a terrorist organization in whole or in part by many countries and international blocs, especially the USA, European Union, Israel and the United Kingdom. Beginning in January 2019, Hamas began calling on its supporters to send money using Bitcoin to combat sanctions and financial isolation.
Wallets include DOGE, XRP, BNB, LTC
On July 9, 2021, Gantz signed an order authorizing security forces to seize crypto accounts allegedly linked to the militant wing of Hamas. Authorities explained that accounts at that time included Tether, Ether, Dogecoin, XRP, Binance Coin, Zcash, Litecoin and other altcoins. In February, 30 crypto wallets belonging to 12 exchange accounts affiliated with Hamas were also seized by Israeli authorities. The exact value of the seized cryptoassets has not been made public.
Cryptocurrencies have been shown to play a relatively minor role in raising money for terrorist groups, as we’ve also reported on cryptokoin.com. In early 2022, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis determined that only a small fraction of crypto funds are used for criminal activities.