The United States Treasury Department has sanctioned a crypto-operator allegedly linked to the terrorist group Hamas following their attack on Israel that resulted in the death of many Israelis. The entities identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included a “Gaza-based virtual currency exchange and its operator” with a Bitcoin address wallet (BTC). The sanctions were directed at “root[ing] out Hamas’s sources of revenue”, as stated by Treasury Secretary Janet Yelln.
More than $25 million of BTC was transferred by the company according to a Blockchain Analytics firm Elliptic report. The firm, called Buy Cash Money, has been transferring USDT since 2015. It is operated by Gaza resident Ahmed M.M. Alaqad and it is linked to Hamas members and other terrorist groups, such as al Qaeda and ISIS affiliates.
Following the terrorist attack, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched bombardments in Gaza. This caused a crisis as many residents were unable to escape. The US President Joe Biden met with officials and agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The US Treasury Department has often used sanctions to weaken the financial support of entities that are suspected of being involved in terrorism or other illicit activities. On October 3rd, it imposed sanctions against cryptocurrency wallets linked to China, parallel to the indictment of chemical manufacturers for the production of fentanyl.
Today, ten key individuals and organizations have been sanctioned due to their involvement with Hamas and other terrorist groups. The US is continuing to fight against terrorism in the US and abroad in order to deny Hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use funds.
