An Israeli counter-terrorism group has alleged that the Palestinian Sunni militant movement Hamas is using cryptocurrency for funding.
According to a report by the Jerusalem Post on Sunday, the Interdisciplinary Centre’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) has alleged that Hamas is using bitcoin as a new form of fund-raising.
Specialists from the ICT, based out of the Israeli city of Herzliya, found a particular bitcoin address revealing irregular activity that was linked to a legitimate financial website by the name of “cash4ps”.
According to the report,
A website called “cash4ps” enables Hamas to send and receive money out of Gaza for operational terror purposes while simultaneously providing a measure of anonymity to either donors or beneficiaries of the funds.
The report continues,
While monitoring Bitcoin address 1LaNXgq2ctDEa4fTha6PTo8sucqzieQctq, ICT’s cyber desk noted “an irregular increase in the scope of activity,” and a “deeper review showed that the same address served a seemingly legitimate financial website by the name of cash4ps.
The report also states the bitcoin address has been linked to a company operating an account in a banned bank. The Islamic National Bank, which was designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. government for its connections to Hamas, was linked to the financial scheme.
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