rewrite this title US Justice Department Seizes $201K in Crypto Earmarked for Hamas – Decrypt

The U.S. Department of Justice has seized $201,400 in cryptocurrencies earmarked for Palestinian militant group Hamas, the agency announced on Thursday. 

Authorities took control of a cryptocurrency wallet holding $89,900, in addition to three accounts holding digital assets worth $111,500, the Justice Department said Thursday in a statement. The wallet addresses have been used to launder more than $1.5 million in digital currencies for Hamas since October 2024.

“These seizures show that this office will search high and low for every cent of money going to fund Hamas, wherever it is found, and in whatever form of currency,” U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia said Thursday in the statement. 

Since the early 2010s, cybercriminals and militant groups have used privacy-focused blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies to launder their ill-gotten gains and finance their operations. But over the past few years, U.S. authorities have cracked down on the practice, frustrating bad actors’ attempts to operate undetected. 

According to the DOJ, a group chat with alleged ties to Hamas enabled Hamas supporters to donate cryptocurrencies to at least 17 wallet addresses through an encrypted communications platform. Financiers and over-the-counter brokers laundered the funds through several crypto exchanges. 

It is not immediately clear which crypto exchanges were used for the alleged money laundering.  

The Justice Department did not immediately reply to Decrypt’s request for comment on the matter. 

The FBI Albuquerque field office assisted in the latest investigation. 

 “Disrupting funding mechanisms and seizing cryptocurrency from Hamas is one of the FBI’s many tools that we use in the fight against terrorism,” Assistant Director David J. Scott of the FBI Counterterrorism Division said. 

The DOJ is not the only agency that has cracked down on campaigns to fund Hamas and other militant groups. Between 2021 and 2023, Israeli counter-terrorist authorities seized dozens of digital asset accounts with suspected ties to Hamas and two with alleged connections to Daesh, also known as ISIS, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.  

Edited by James Rubin