“Elliptic Finds Hamas-Linked Online Group Raised $21,000 in Crypto Since October 7th Attacks”

The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed joint sanctions on Gaza Now, an online media channel aligned with Hamas, for its role in facilitating public fundraising for Hamas following the October 7 attack in Israel. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and the U.K.’s Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation also sanctioned Mustafa Ayash, the founder of Gaza Now, along with another individual and two entities allegedly involved in coordinating fundraising efforts with Gaza Now.

These sanctions are part of broader efforts to target financial facilitators supporting Hamas, including previous sanctions against Buy Cash, a Gaza-based crypto exchange, and its owner in October 2023.

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Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated in a press release on Wednesday that the U.S. remains committed to disrupting Hamas’ financing activities, particularly through online fundraising campaigns aimed at directly funding the group. The U.S. and British authorities will continue to utilize their resources to impede Hamas’ ability to facilitate further attacks.

Gaza Now utilized cryptocurrency donations as part of its fundraising strategy, although blockchain research firm Elliptic reported that the group only received $21,000 in cryptocurrency in the weeks following the October 7 attack.

This aligns with findings from TRM Labs, another blockchain research firm, which indicated that cryptocurrency-based fundraising for Hamas and other terrorist organizations, such as ISIS, tends to be relatively small in scale. According to TRM’s 2023 Illicit Crypto Economy Report, the majority of terrorism-linked donations last year were under $500, with 40% being under $100, and only 3% exceeding $5,000.