DOJ 'disrupts Hamas terrorist' scheme by seizing crypto held in USDT
Quick Take
- U.S. Department of Justice said it seized about $200,000 worth of USDT “intended to benefit Hamas.
The U.S. Department of Justice said it has disrupted a "Hamas terrorist financing scheme" with the seizure of about $200,000 of cryptocurrency.
The DOJ said the seized cryptocurrency was being "held in wallets and accounts intended to benefit" Hamas, according to a press release. "The seized funds were traced from Hamas fundraising addresses, purportedly controlled by Hamas, that were used to launder more than $1.5 million in virtual currency since October 2024."
The roughly $200,000 in seized crypto was in USDT, the world's largest stablecoin by supply, which is issued by Tether.
According to the DOJ, a group "claiming association with Hamas on an encrypted communications platform" had been directing Hamas supporters to donate money to more than a dozen crypto wallets, the release said. "Those funds were sent into an operational wallet and laundered through a series of virtual currency exchanges and transactions by leveraging suspected financiers and over-the-counter brokers."
Identifying and disrupting Hamas' attempts to use cryptocurrency to fund terrorist activity has been ongoing.
Roughly a year ago, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was investigating $165 million in crypto transactions processed through U.S. institutions that allegedly supported Hamas before its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people, including 40 American citizens.
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