Israel Confiscates 30 Addresses Of Crypto Wallets Used For Terrorist Financing

Israel confiscates crypto wallet addresses used for terrorist financing in crypto. (Photo; PIRO4D - Pixabay)

JAKARTA – Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Defense is reported to have confiscated 30 digital wallets belonging to businesses linked to the Al-Mutahadun exchange company. Authorities accuse the latter of being used to fund the terrorist organization Hamas.

In 2021, Al-Mutahadun is one of the companies designated as a terrorist financing entity by Israeli officials. In particular, they claim that the company owned by the Shamlah family “helps the Hamas terror group, and especially its military wing, by transferring tens of millions of dollars a year.”

The Times of Israel reported that the Ministry of Defense, police, and military carried out a joint operation, seizing 30 cryptocurrency wallets from 12 accounts belonging to Al-Mutahadun. Law enforcement officials revealed that the seized digital assets were equivalent to tens of thousands of shekels.

"We continue to expand our tools to deal with terrorism and with the companies that supply it with economic oxygen pipelines," added Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

In addition, he praised the actions of all the organizations that took part in the operation. "We will continue to work together to fight terror at all costs," Gantz added.

Cryptocurrencies are linked to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Earlier this year, the Israeli government confiscated digital assets worth more than $800,000 from a company linked to Hamas.

Last summer, Israel's National Bureau of Counter Terror Financing confiscated US$7.7 million (Rp110 billion) in crypto from 84 addresses. Similar to the case mentioned above, the authorities argue that the funds were intended to finance the Islamic terrorist group Hamas.

As per the foreclosure order, it became clear that the stablecoin Tether (USDT) is the most widely used digital asset by the organization. Bitcoin (BTC), Tron (TRX), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE) are the other assets in the top five.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians appear to have eased recently. However, this was not the case last year when both sides declared war on each other.

While Israel is one of the most technologically advanced market economies and depends on its financial stability, the Palestinians face significant problems in that area. Thus, the Palestinian Monetary Authority expressed the intention to issue its own digital currency. According to some experts, this effort could give the country a higher level of financial independence.

“As a result, they [Palestinians] sometimes have to borrow to cover foreign exchange payments to third parties and are stuck with a lot of Israeli banknotes. That could be one of the reasons digital currencies would be attractive to the Palestinian monetary system,” the Palestinian Financial Authority said.