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Cryptocurrency has become a tool for the Islamic State’s criminal activities in the United States
on December 14, the Brooklyn Federal Court in the United States opened a criminal case against four Americans who provided financial support to the ISIS terrorist organization. According to information provided by the FBI, under the guise of raising funds for humanitarian purposes, the criminals exchanged fiat for cryptocurrency and sent it to PayPal and GoFundMe crypto wallets owned by Islamic State terrorists.
Law enforcement officials reported that between February 2021 and July 2022 alone, the criminals collected about $ 35,000 in cryptocurrency. At the moment, the FBI is actively investigating the criminal case and looking for those who might still be involved in cooperation with Islamists. Brooklyn District Attorney General Matthew Olsen said that such arrests demonstrate the U.S. Department of Justice’s commitment to finding, prosecuting, and punishing those involved in financing terrorist organizations.
In the fall, the UN has already emphasized that cryptocurrency has become a powerful tool in the hands of terrorists around the world. «If terrorists are excluded from the formal financial system and want to buy or invest in something anonymously, the most advanced ones are likely to abuse cryptocurrencies,» top officials said at the time.
It is worth noting that this is not the only case when Islamic terrorists are looking for any means of financing their criminal activities — according to US intelligence, the attackers developed NFTs in support of Islamic terrorism. According to the agency, it is impossible to completely remove NFTs, as they are protected from censorship by blockchain technologies. And in early September, it became known about the NFT, which was created and distributed by a supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group for the purpose of propaganda and recruitment of mercenaries. The non-interchangeable token, called «IS-NEWS #01,» is an image of the ISIS emblem with text praising the Islamist militants.