Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic has stated that there is no substantial proof to suggest that Hamas is receiving a significant amount of cryptocurrency donations to support its attacks against Israel.
According to Elliptic, the funds raised through cryptocurrency donations by Hamas are very small, contradicting recent claims made by The Wall Street Journal and U.S. lawmakers.
These claims had allegedly misinterpreted Elliptics’ data to argue that cryptocurrency was extensively used to finance Hamas “terrorist” activities.
As an illustration, Elliptic pointed out a fundraising campaign by Hamas, which is run by Gaza Now, a news outlet supporting Hamas. This campaign has managed to raise only $21,000 since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Of this $21,000, $9,000 was frozen by the stablecoin issuer Tether, and another $2,000 was frozen after being transferred to a cryptocurrency exchange, presumably to convert it into traditional currency, as noted by Elliptic.
Elliptic has contacted the Wall Street Journal to correct an initial statement that claimed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had raised over $130 million in cryptocurrency between August 2021 and June 2023.
The WSJ reported it was “as much as $93 million.” This claim has been proved wrong by onchain data and people have asked for a retracement from them,
Senator Elizabeth Warren and over 100 other U.S. lawmakers referenced the Wall Street Journal article in a letter they sent to the White House & the U.S. Department of the Treasury on October 17.
The recent attack in Israel that killed 1,200 lives, has refocused attention on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s push for crypto legislation.
In the US House, Senator Elizabeth Warren has gathered support for her initiative to address the use of cryptocurrencies for financing terrorism.
Elliptic restated that its data was misinterpreted, “Over the past two weeks, politicians and journalists have portrayed public crypto fundraising as a significant source of funds for Hamas and other terrorist groups, but the data simply does not support this.”
Elliptic argued stating that, “This illustrates the weakness of crypto as a terrorism fundraising tool. The transparency of the blockchain allows illicit funds to be traced, and in some cases linked to real-world identities.”
Also Read: US Treasury’s FinCEN Warns Banks Over Hamas Crypto Funding
