All corners of the globe are witnessing an unwelcome transformation; in an alarming twist to the crypto tale, terrorist factions, including the notorious ISIS, are increasingly employing cryptocurrencies for raising funds. This revelation comes from a recent report by the blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs.
Take for example the ISIS-supporting clusters in Tajikistan, which raised approximately $2 million in Tron-based USDT throughout 2022. TRM Labs unfolds the quandary wherein these groups utilized these funds for rallying fighters for The Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan. They effectively cashed out the funds via an anonymous centralized exchange.
However, the story took a fortunate turn when the eagle-eyed blockchain analytics firm traced the flow of money, clued in the exchange, leading to the identification of the user. Consequently, a leading ISIS fundraiser, Shamil Hukumatov, found himself in cuffs in Turkey on June 22.
In another setting, an ISIS-supporting group used an account in an Indonesia-based exchange to raise more than $517,000. The earmarked purpose for this considerable sum was the release of ISIS members from Syrian interment camps. Strikingly, donations often averaged in the ballpark of $10,000, highlighting the considerable financial leverage accessible to these extremist entities.
False pretenses, compelling narratives – terrorist affiliates in Pakistan used this classic route to generate about $40,000 over a span of a year. The supposed end beneficiaries of these funds were earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, leveraging human empathy to further their appalling causes.
Covering the broad spectrum of terrorism, the Al-Azaim Foundation for Media Production—a pro-ISIS media body in Afghanistan—also dipped its fingers in the crypto pot, gathering a total of $10,000.
However, this narrative also begets the question – does the characteristic transparency of crypto transactions serve as a double-edged sword?
Perhaps it does, with the militant wing of Hamas a glaring case in point. The organization reportedly had accounts on the renowned global exchange platform – Binance, receiving a whopping $80,000 in merely a month, a story CoinDesk broke in 2021. The traceability quotient of digital currency, primarily Bitcoin, ultimately propelled the group to abandon this fundraising method in 2023, voicing concerns around donor safety.
Truly, the age-old battle between the scourge of terrorism and the perseverance of security continues, with cryptos, like many technological marvels before them, being both a boon and a bane.
Source: Coindesk
