US Treasury sanktion Hamas-Linked Exchange

• Det amerikanska finansdepartementet hävdar att Hamas förlitar sig på kryptovalutor för finansiering. 
• Data från Chainalysis avslöjade att Hamas har fått hundratusentals dollar i kryptodonationer sedan 2019. 
• Amerikanska lagstiftare har bett Biden-administrationen om klarhet i hur den planerar att ta itu med kryptobedrägerier.

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Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) vid det amerikanska finansministeriet, onsdagen den 18 oktober, meddelat sanctions on financial service providers providing aid to Hamas amidst its ongoing crisis with Israel. OFAC said it had added a “virtual currency exchange and its operator based in Gaza” that had a Bitcoin wallet address to its list of sanctioned entities. 

The company, identified as Buy Cash Money, is a Gaza-based digital exchange that is operated by Gaza resident Khan Yunis. OFAC said Buy Cash and Yunis had ties to Hamas. Interestingly, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter-Terrorist Finance froze one of Buy Cash’s Bitcoin wallets in June 2021 for alleged ties to Hamas’s funding campaign. 

Today, Treasury imposed sanctions on ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operatives, and financial facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere as part of a continuous effort by the U.S. to root out Hamas’s sources of revenue. https://t.co/KZtF6K60id

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) 18 oktober 2023

Sanctions have been a common tactic employed by the US Treasury to reduce financial support for organizations suspected of being involved in terrorism or other illegal activity. The Treasury explained in its announcement that “Buy Cash has also been used to transfer funds by affiliates in other terrorist groups.” The department noted that Buy Cash received $2,000 in BTC to its wallet from a Türkiye-based money operator and an al-Qa’ida affiliate in September 2019. 

Som reaktion på nyheterna sa finansminister Janet Yellen i ett uttalande:

Vi kommer att fortsätta att vidta alla nödvändiga åtgärder för att neka Hamas-terrorister möjligheten att samla in och använda pengar för att utföra grymheter och terrorisera Israels folk. Det inkluderar att införa sanktioner och samordna med allierade och partners för att spåra, frysa och beslagta alla Hamas-relaterade tillgångar i deras jurisdiktioner.

In addition to Buy Cash and its founder, OFAC named two top Hamas officials and six others connected to Hamas’s investment portfolio in its sanctions list. Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel earlier this month and Western authorities have worked to limit their access to resources.  

Israeliska myndigheter nyligen samarbetade med kryptovalutabörs Binance några dagar efter attackerna för att blockera konton kopplade till Hamas på börsen. Tidigare i veckan meddelade utgivaren av stablecoin, Tether, att de hade fryst kryptoadresser kopplade till terrorism i Israel och Ukraina. 

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