On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined a bipartisan group of more than 100 colleagues in questioning reports that groups used crypto-currencies to fund attacks on Israel.
In a letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of Treasury Brian Nelson, the lawmakers raised their concerns over reports that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) raised millions of dollars via cryptocurrencies to fund their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, evading U.S. sanctions. The group is asking the Biden administration how it plans to prevent further crypto-financed terrorism.
“Between August 2021 and this past June, [Hamas and PIJ] raised over $130 million in crypto, and moved millions among each other, ‘with PIJ sending over $12 million in crypto to Hezbollah since 2023. As the Wall Street Journal reports, ‘[r]esearchers who study Hamas’s financing said crypto remains one of a number of tools the group uses to raise funds.’ Given the clear and present danger posed by the financing of these and other militant organizations, we ask the Administration to provide additional details on its plan to prevent the use of crypto for the financing of terrorism,” the lawmakers wrote.
Brown, chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, has said in previous hearings, crypto is being used by gun runners, money launderers, traffickers and other bad actors.
The letter asked the administration to respond by Oct. 31 in regard to what steps it is taking to address the use of cryptocurrency by terrorist organizations, its estimate of the value of crypto assets held by Hamas and PIJ, what percentage of their funding moves through cryptocurrency channels and what challenges the administration faces in stopping terrorist groups from raising funds via cryptocurrency.