{"id":223163,"date":"2021-04-09T19:37:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/"},"modified":"2021-04-09T19:37:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:37:00","slug":"terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/","title":{"rendered":"# Terrorists still raise money through crypto, but the impact is limited"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3db86064f9c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3db86064f9c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/#Increasing_apprehensions_about_crypto\" >Increasing apprehensions about crypto?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/#Crypto_becoming_more_important_for_terror_groups\" >Crypto becoming more important for terror groups?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/#Ditching_BTC_for_Monero_and_Zcash\" >Ditching BTC for Monero and Zcash?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\/#Upsurge_in_Western_countries\" >Upsurge in Western countries<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># Terrorists still raise money through crypto, but the impact is limited <\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDQvYWE3NWVmNTgtYTdjMC00MGYwLTlhNTktMzAwZjY4NDQ2MjcyLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-5a136f3a>We\u2019re living today \u201camidst an explosion of risk related to fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and data privacy,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0023\">said<\/a> United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in February \u2014 and she specifically cited cryptocurrencies as a \u201ctool to finance terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yellen <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared to be flagging an important new turn in the war against terror, and it begged some questions: Is crypto in the hands of terrorists a real, present danger to governments and society? If so, should the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry be worried?<\/p>\n<p>Recent evidence suggests that crypto\u2019s role as an enabler of terrorism globally remains relatively minor. \u201cCryptocurrencies have been used in several terror finance cases, but it has not yet become a primary means of terror financing,\u201d<strong> <\/strong>Matthew Levitt, director of the Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n<p>Gina Pieters, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, told Cointelegraph: \u201cHer [Yellen\u2019s] statement is factually true \u2014 it is a tool.\u201d But Yellen also chose her words carefully. \u201cShe did not say it was a major tool \u2014 she specifically said it was a growing one. And that is also true, as cryptocurrencies grow they will be used in more criminal activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Increasing_apprehensions_about_crypto\"><\/span>Increasing apprehensions about crypto?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Dave Jevans, CEO of CipherTrace, expressed some unease about the treasury secretary\u2019s remarks. \u201cIf leaders like Janet Yellen set a fearful attitude toward cryptocurrencies associated with criminality, regulators could take harsh action to impose more strict rules on cryptocurrency transactions that may not be warranted,\u201d he told Cointelegraph, adding: \u201cSuch action, like the blanket cryptocurrency ban in India, would greatly inhibit mass adoption and innovation in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she wanted to raise the issue and put it on people\u2019s radar,\u201d remarked Levitt, who added that misuse of cryptocurrencies looms as more of a geopolitical concern with regard to states trying to evade Western political sanctions \u2014 like Russia, Iran or Venezuela \u2014 than with would-be terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it doesn\u2019t take much money to finance a terrorist act, so any help that Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies provide to terrorist groups that are trying to obscure their funding sources remains a worry. For that reason, Jesse Spiro, chief of government affairs at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that Yellen wasn\u2019t exactly exaggerating the threat. That said, \u201cTerrorism financing represents an incredibly small portion of cryptocurrency transactions.\u201d In 2020, Chainalysis traced just 37.35 Bitcoin that went toward terrorism financing, or \u201ca mere 0.00324 per cent of the overall illicit activity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Crypto_becoming_more_important_for_terror_groups\"><\/span>Crypto becoming more important for terror groups?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In August 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/global-disruption-three-terror-finance-cyber-enabled-campaigns\">seized<\/a> the cryptocurrency accounts of three Middle East-based terrorist financing operations. This was the \u201clargest ever seizure of terrorist organizations\u2019 cryptocurrency accounts,\u201d according to the DoJ. \u201cIt is a fact that jihadi groups, led by ISIS and Al-Qaeda, have been using cryptocurrency for years,\u201d Steven Stalinsky, executive director at the Middle East <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Research Institute, told Cointelegraph. \u201cFollowing the fall of ISIS\u2019s caliphate, it quickly became even more important for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In its daily monitoring of jihadi groups online, MEMRI sees groups and individuals discussing the use of different cryptocurrencies, \u201cBut this use has not recently developed to the extreme proportions that it could have and still might,\u201d said Stalinsky. \u201cAny arrests and public <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> of jihadis using cryptocurrency has so far led to the companies acting to shut down these and related accounts, and this seems to be creating a balance to curb the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A 2019 Rand Corporation study <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/content\/dam\/rand\/pubs\/research_reports\/RR3000\/RR3026\/RAND_RR3026.pdf\">noted<\/a> that \u201cNo current cryptocurrency can address all of the terrorist organizations\u2019 financial needs\u201d \u2014 which include anonymity, usability, security, reliability and acceptance \u2014 but cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, \u201cparticularly with improved usability, could be appealing to use in fundraising, and some evidence is emerging that terrorist organizations might be using cryptocurrencies for this purpose.\u201d It is critical for such groups to be able to receive money from donors, beyond the gaze of governments.<\/p>\n<p>In an intelligence brief, Chainalysis <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/go.chainalysis.com\/bitcointransfer.html\">noted<\/a> that advertisements and messages from BitcoinTransfer, a Syrian-based cryptocurrency exchange that has been publicly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/the-bitcoin-jihad-in-syria-and-beyond-tales-of-crypto-currency\">cited<\/a> as being run by jihadis, \u201coften emphasize security and anonymity, as well as its ability to facilitate transfers from European countries without submitting identification documents or \u2018exposing your friend or family to danger.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin, the world\u2019s oldest and largest blockchain network, isn\u2019t really anonymous, as Al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups discovered with the DoJ\u2019s August 2020 takedown. Internal Revenue Service, Homeland Security Investigations and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents tracked and seized all 150 crypto accounts that laundered funds to and from the al-Qassam Brigades\u2019 accounts, for instance. The group had advertised that its Bitcoin donations were untraceable and would be used for militant activities. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ditching_BTC_for_Monero_and_Zcash\"><\/span>Ditching BTC for Monero and Zcash?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Perhaps as a result of the disruption to the three cyber-enabled jihadi campaigns, reports have surfaced recently that terrorist groups are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.co.uk\/article\/bitcoin-crypto-terrorism-syria\">moving<\/a> from BTC to other cryptocurrencies, including privacy coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), that are more difficult to trace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBTC has always been the most popular and is the most well known,\u201d Stalinsky told Cointelegraph, but others, including Monero and Zcash, are also being used by terror groups. Jevans added:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still easier to trace than cash, but privacy coins [&#8230;] certainly make the jobs of law enforcement more challenging.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Still, privacy coins, even if they are better at obfuscating transactions, \u201chaven\u2019t been adopted to the extent that one may expect,\u201d Spiro told Cointelegraph. This is mainly because they lack liquidity. In 2020, several crypto exchanges, under pressure from regulators, began delisting privacy coins, so accessibility has become an issue for aspiring terrorists. \u201cCryptocurrency is only useful if you can buy and sell goods and services or cash out into fiat, and that is much more difficult with privacy coins,\u201d explained Spiro.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Upsurge_in_Western_countries\"><\/span>Upsurge in Western countries<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If one accepts that crypto use isn\u2019t exploding among terrorist groups, is it at least growing? \u201cCryptocurrency adoption is growing everywhere, including among domestic and international terrorist groups,\u201d answered Jevans, while Spiro highlighted: \u201cWe have seen evidence of them using cryptocurrency to pay for online infrastructure that facilitates recruitment and propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The MEMRI Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor, which focuses on terrorist groups in the U.S. and other Western countries, has seen an upsurge in the use of and references to cryptocurrencies \u2014 \u201cvery much like what happened with jihadis a few years ago,\u201d said Stalinsky. He added:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c[U.S.] Domestic terrorist groups follow closely what jihadi groups have done online, whether in migrating to other platforms, using encryption <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>, or using and promoting cryptocurrency.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Stalinsky continued: \u201cAfter the events of January 6, when the U.S. Capitol building was stormed by extremist groups, there is more pressure to go after these groups\u2019 fundraising online. A year ago it was common to see many of these individuals, groups, and organizations openly using mainstream banking platforms, from major credit card companies to regular banks, Apple Pay, PayPal, and other platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But they have now been largely forced off these platforms, he added, and need to raise funds \u2014 \u201cwhether for recruitment, solicitation of support, or sales of merchandise such as books and clothing lines \u2014 through cryptocurrency wallets, which they are all using and promoting.\u201d Bitcoin remains the favored cryptocurrency among these groups, though Monero is also popular, he said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the particular attraction that cryptocurrencies hold for terrorists, Pieters answered: \u201cIt is the ability to move a large value of funds without physical transportation, along with the relative speed and low risk compared to other digital alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Should the blockchain industry itself be worried about such nefarious uses of cryptocurrencies? After all, it could further blacken the industry\u2019s image, undoing progress toward bringing blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies into the economic and societal mainstream. According to Spiro:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBad actors are often early adopters of new technologies, and cryptocurrency is no exception. The difference with crypto, though, is that it can actually be harnessed by law enforcement to follow the money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cryptocurrencies are widely thought to be anonymous and untraceable, but they actually \u201coperate on public, transparent blockchains,\u201d Spiro continued. \u201cWe\u2019ve found that once lawmakers, regulators, and law enforcement agencies understand this, they find that crypto can actually help, not harm, their missions to weed out illicit activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Antonio Fat\u00e1s, professor of economics at INSEAD, told Cointelegraph that in recent decades, many Western nations have put in place strict regulations to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. \u201cCryptocurrencies have been left out of these regulations partly because they were small, partly because it is not always easy to implement this regulation to decentralized forms of money.\u201d But it is now clear that this exclusion will not be allowed much longer, said Fat\u00e1s. Industry players will need to comply.<\/p>\n<p>All in all, any funds that go toward funding terrorism on a blockchain network should be of concern to government and society, as well as the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, even if the gross amounts still aren\u2019t large.<\/p>\n<p>There is a silver lining in all this, though. \u201cThe good news is that cryptocurrency is inherently transparent,\u201d said Spiro, whose firm, Chainalysis, assisted the DoJ in disrupting the previously mentioned Middle Eastern terror-financing operations in August 2020. \u201cWith the right tools, law enforcement can trace that activity,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/terrorists-still-raise-money-through-crypto-but-the-impact-is-limited\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Terrorists still raise money through crypto, but the impact is limited &#8221; We\u2019re living today \u201camidst an explosion of risk related to fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and data privacy,\u201d said United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in February \u2014 and she specifically cited cryptocurrencies as a \u201ctool to finance terrorism.\u201d Yellen appeared to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDQvYWE3NWVmNTgtYTdjMC00MGYwLTlhNTktMzAwZjY4NDQ2MjcyLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74862,74894,77035,70934,71577,67874],"class_list":["post-223163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bitcoin","tag-blockchain","tag-counter-terrorism-financing","tag-regulation","tag-syria","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}