According to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Counterterrorism Financing, financial institutions have reported $165 million in crypto transactions that may be linked to Hamas.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network analyzed suspicious activity reports filed between January 2020 and October 2023, according to the letter signed by Deputy Finance Minister Adewale Adeyemo. The letter, seen by CoinDesk, was addressed to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, asking for support in passing legislation that would expand the Treasury Department's oversight authority over crypto transactions.
The letter hedges the extent to which the $165 million figure is related to cryptocurrencies and Hamas, with Adeyemo stating that the financial institution “has no control over customer transactions involving both fiat and digital asset activity. It is possible that the entire amount was attributed to Hamas.” It is possible that only some of the activities reported constituted such activities. ”
FinCEN found that more than 200 virtual currency addresses may have been used in these transactions. The Treasury Department is still conducting an “ongoing analysis” of the potential threats posed by virtual currencies and virtual currency services, he wrote.
“We continue to assess that Hamas and other terrorists prefer to use traditional financial products and services, but as we cut off their access to traditional finance, these groups We remain concerned that they will increasingly turn to virtual assets,” the letter states. .
Adeyemo's comments echo statements made by various Treasury officials over the past few months stating that limited use of cryptocurrencies by terrorists has been observed.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the letter early Wednesday.
Lawmakers are scrutinizing the potential role cryptocurrencies may have played in last October's Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and sparked a war in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll is now reportedly over 30,000. Last November, a group of lawmakers led by House Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-Minn.) sent an open letter to the Treasury Department, calling for Congress to address the issue. He said it was necessary to know. The extent to which Hamas actually used cryptocurrencies has come to light after a report in the Wall Street Journal claimed that cryptocurrencies were a tool used by the terrorist group.
A few weeks later, the Treasury Department requested increased powers specifically to pursue illegal activity in cryptocurrencies overseas.
Mr. Adeyemo also referred to that request, saying that the analysis previously discussed “informed a series of high-level legislative proposals aimed at modernizing” the Treasury Department's tools.
“These updates clarify and potentially expand the scope of new entities that may be operating in areas of real or perceived ambiguity in the virtual asset ecosystem. there is.” [Bank Secrecy Act] “The final proposal would explicitly authorize the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to implement secondary sanctions, an influential and flexible tool, against virtual asset companies that do business with sanctioned entities. ” he wrote.
