Benzinga - The U.S. Treasury Department is stepping up its scrutiny of crypto firms that may be enabling terrorist financing. This follows the revelation that digital currencies, such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), may have been used to fund Hamas’s recent attack on Israel.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo is scheduled to make a speech on Friday, warning these firms about their potential involvement in supporting terrorist organizations, reported The Washington Post. The address will be at London’s Royal United Services Institute, a foreign-policy think tank.
Adeyemo’s warning coincides with the Treasury Department’s expanded efforts to stem the international financial channels that facilitated Hamas’s deadly assault. Last week, the Treasury imposed sanctions on 10 members and entities linked to Hamas.
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According to data from crypto research firm Elliptic, cited by the Wall Street Journal, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah raised $93 million in crypto prior to the attack. This figure was referred to in a letter signed by over 100 members of Congress, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), advocating for stricter crypto trading regulations.
In his prepared remarks, Adeyemo emphasized, “Let me be clear: We will use every tool available to go after any person or platform that is facilitating the movement of resources for terrorists.”
He also urged financial institutions and digital asset companies to take steps to prevent such illicit financial flows.
Last week, the Treasury also imposed financial penalties on a Gaza-based digital currency exchange, Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, for providing Bitcoin and other crypto services.
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Bitcoin Photo by BUTENKOV ALEKSEI on Shutterstock
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