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The terrorist group ISIS or Islamic State has been using Bitcoin, a digital currency, to mobilize funds across the world. The virtual currency appears to be indirectly aiding the spread of terror.

Such large-scaled organized terror tactics need money that can be moved quickly. Though ISIS has devised multiple inhuman methods to make quick bucks, it still needed a fluid and unhindered system to move it. It seems ISIS stumbled upon the most ideal form of currency handling platform – Bitcoin.


http://www.inquisitr.com/2152230/isis-is-moving-money-using-bitcoin-digital-currency-aiding-recruitment-training-and-weapons-procurement/

Does this mean that Ripple is a Homeland Security Approved currency??

:D

Here we go again - Bitcoin & terrorism

The media do not read each others articles it seems... They just keep on writing the same shit over and over and over again.

So answer me this.... Before Bitcoin, what did they use? {PayPal ? / Credit cards ? / Fiat / drugs? / diamonds?} Or all of the above?

Bitcoin is a currency, and that does not make it immune to any use. {If you could not buy drugs with it, OR if you could not buy guns with it, it would not have been a currency}

The media {for whatever their reason are} will write worthless junk like this to sell papers and to increase visits to their sites... boring stuff or the truth will not help them achieve that.  ;)

+1. inquisitr.com? I never heard of such a media....and looking at their shitty news, I would gladly ignore it in the future.

Pizza

Don't blame tools, blame humans.

Also this article is not really trustworthy source of information to begin with. I doubt that ISIS funds are even in 1% bitcoin/cryptocurrency related.

I don't care about if all the terosist or whatever its name are using bitcoin...that is not my bussiness...my bussiness is how to make a benefit from bitcoin

Dammit.  I was wrong in my assumption that any news is good new.  I suppose this is the exception.  If there is one thing that can get people riled up against bitcoins then it is terrorism.  OTOH there have been a lot of what I would consider to be positive stories about bitcoin lately, so maybe this will be just a blip on the radar.  After all, isis does so many terrible things that it should not really matter how they pay.

this was an old news and reiterating the same news, will not raise any bad impact on bitcoin, they should have learned this already

if they are aiming at lower the price of bitcoin, to indirectly lower the usage of bitcoin from isis, then this is not the way to do it

The article has no facts which would demonstrate that ISIS is using Bitcoin.

From the article:
"It seems ISIS stumbled upon the most ideal form of currency handling platform – Bitcoin."
link to -> http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/36961/intelligence/isis-in-the-deepweb.html
"Hidden services in the Deep Web also offer the possibility to download the mobile apps used by the jihadists to communicate securely and to transfer Bitcoins to terrorist cells in every place of the world."
link to -> http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/33598/cyber-crime/isis-already-using-bitcoin.html
The closest they come to having any evidence of "ISIS Moving Money Using Bitcoin Aiding Recruitment, Training..." is a forum post on one of their websites:
"In a post called “Bitcoin and the Charity of Violent Physical Struggle”, the author argues such donations would be “untrackable” by Western governments."


So there are at least 5 stories (now another here on bitcointalk...thanks OP) declaring that ISIS is using Bitcoin (because it is the best way to transfer money around the world) based on a single forum post by some guy that likes Bitcoin within ISIS.


I work for the US Military. I post all the time about the benefits of Bitcoin on web forums. Why are there no stories about how the US military is using Bitcoin to aid in recruitment, training, etc?

Rofl, this is the same as saying Columbians use USD to trade cocaine.  No fucking shit.

Useless article, useless thread.  Elwar seems to be one of the few using his brain in this thread.

isis is run by the cia.  the whole world is rigged.  they prob gave them some coins to play with.  cant trust anybody these days. only thing you can trust is math.  thus  btc.

I hate the Inquisitr. They always churn out half-baked news articles, without any proof or evidence. It is the same with this article also. It is widely known that the ISIS is using money transmitting services such as Qiwi wallet and Moneypak to move their funds. They don't need the Bitcoin, as they are having far more easier options.

This has been discussed quite a few times on other sites and newspapers. I remember a user coming on here trying to sell antiques from Syria with Arabian origins. Many thought that it was an antique stolen by ISIS from one of the museums in Syria although it could have just been a troll/fake.
Either way, ISIS are using Bitcoin to hide the flows of their inbound and outbound cash flows to prevent both themselves and their supporters being traced.

that was a old story lol who cares
i hate perss they always make opinion and than people belive it that is true

never heard it too.  it may be one media of a third world country, Africa or Middle East etc..

Anyone will eventually use Bitcoin. Is cheap and most secure to transfer asset  around the world.  No wonder they say, ISIS is always a step before others.

These FUD articles have a positive impact sometimes, me and a lot other people I know got into BTC because they saw it being mentioned in similar articles in mainstream media, the problem is most people will never go beyond "oh well, this is bad" and unfortunately will getting in now while its cheap as hell.

Pile of crap

ISIS issued a currency made of precious metals. IMO they'd be the last kind of peopled to use cryptocurrencies in the plant.

http://5pillarsuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/isis.jpg

I have to disagree with you. Negative articles like this one will only help to drive away normal people from using Bitcoin. It is true that some people will get attracted to it as a result. But most of these guys will be shady characters. We don't need any more of them in the Bitcoin sector. Right now there are more than enough of them.

I don't think these inbreeds morons know how to use cryptocurrencies myself. They'll probably use some archaic form of money just like their worldview.

So what? Are you also going to blame gun manufacturers for ISIS using their weapons? USD is still king on drug dealing, terrorism and other stuff.
Besides, ISIS is horrible and so is the US Govt. Americans and western world don't see it because they are like religious people who claim "their religion is the best and all the others are horrible" when all of them suck.

I hope they use more bitcoin.

There are quite a few IT specialists among the ISIS Jihadis in Syria and Iraq. Check the videos and twitter feeds uploaded by these scum, and you'll notice their skills yourself. However, there are some practical difficulties in using the Bitcoin. For example, if they want to exchange their coins to fiat, there are very few people in their territory who accept these coins.

It would be comforting if they were stupid. In reality they are succeeding in forming their caliphate. They do know how to use BTC and do use it. This should come as no surprise to anyone. DAESH has shown an ability to use technology in furtherance of their media, communication, and surveillance capabilities. They are not anti-technology.
This is also not a reason to disparage bitcoin. It's just money and all sorts of people are attracted to that. Just as DAESH striking gold coins is no reason to avoid gold.

They already use an archaic form of money. However, the idea of a currency that represents its face value and is forced to have a limited supply sounds more reasonable when you think about the non-stopping there. Accessing the internet or using bitcoin through a third party mobile service provider sounds unreliable and probably is a lot more inefficient for such a state. As of receiving payments and donations in bitcoin, sure it's easy to receive, but good luck laundering it while being sanctioned by nearly the entire planet. Self-sufficiency is important, imo bitcoin wouldn't provide that to ISIS.

Same old BS again. I once saw a picture of some ISIS guys driving a Toyota pick-up. Should we boycott Toyota for providing wheels to terrorists?
IS militants are on Twitter too, so I guess we shall boycott Twitter now, right?

Fuck Twitter and Toyota! 

Instead of paraphrasing, I'd rather quote that post, it sums up all I am thinking at this very moment.

Feel free to swap the word "terrorism" with whatever takes your fancy: child porn, guns dealing, money laundering, whatever....

Dealing guns doesn't belong in that sentence, but whatever....

yep, scaremongering clickbait article from an unknown media site...nothing to lose sleep about ;)

bet your left gonad ISIS are much more likely to have bags of $$$$ than btc.

Read my post again, sweetheart  ;D

When the captured Mosul, the ISIS stole some 500 billion Iraqi dinars (worth some $430 million, or £256 million) from the branch of the central bank there. Also, they are reported to have stolen many tons of gold bullion from the same source. Why do they need Bitcoin after all this?

Pay for DDoS attacks against enemy websites? (just thinking)

I know for a fact that ISIS did not recently start using Bitcoin to move mountains of money around. If they did my bitcoins would be worth more than the friggin $225-$230 they've been sitting at for ages.

I think they need that to make transaction to buy weapons be safer and harder to detected. It will be risked if they do transaction with much gold and money that can make suspicion.

You can not be more ignorant as this. If i can use crypto why they would not? They gathered people from allover the world and conquered huge areas of land. Why would they not be capable of using crypto?

Who would help ISIS launder bitcoin for a form of money they can use more efficiently where they are.

I don't think that any large-scale weapons smuggler accepts Bitcoin right now (I could be wrong). Even if someone accept them, the market cap is too low (around $3 billion right now) to make the purchase un-noticed by the FBI. For example, if the ISIS orders weapons for $100 million from an arms dealer in Russia, that will require them to transfer some BTC435,000. Securing this huge amount of coins can be extremely difficult. And it will be even more difficult for the arms dealer to launder them.

Again, the article has no facts to back up its claims.

I'm not one to say their aught to be a law but....isn't stating a falsehood and getting paid (advertising money from clicks) considered fraud?

ISIS was created by KSA. So what is the need here for ISIS to use Bitcoin for money transferring. They are already been funded very well by KSA and other allies. Where did they get Arms and ammunition's, missile tankers and launchers within a year it was founded, seems like media is showing us an action pack movies. When US can topple then Iraqi leader Saddam in a couple of days, then Why not with ISIS. Good to watch funny media news in leisure times.

If the Americans really want to defeat the ISIS, they will be able to do that in a matter of weeks, if not days. But I have a feeling that they don't want that to happen, as the defeat of the ISIS can indirectly help Bashar al Assad in Syria. For many of the American allies (esp. Qatar and KSA) Assad is a much bigger threat, when compared to the ISIS.

seems like ISIS isn't so ancient overall. using new technology to try to take us back to the seventh century. such irony

“Governments control this thing called fiat currency, and they can print as much of it as they want at any time, and then they use that money to build all sorts of tanks and bombs and airplanes, and they use that money to murder people all over the world. […] With Bitcoin – because there's a limited supply – that sort of thing can't happen in the world.”

The Americans are currently doing this. They are selling their debt in USD, and then reducing the net debt by printing tons and tons of dollar banknotes. The major buyer of the American debt, China (along with other players such as Russia and Japan) has realized this and they are slowly dumping their US treasury bonds. Now things won't be that easy for the Americans.

Well, amazing things you can do with this tech. ;D

Accept they aren't. The article is fake.

If KSA really created ISIS, I guess KSA will do anything to avoid this fact, so maybe they did something like weapons or money transactions on ISIS with other party so world people won't know about KSA involvement here.

This actually doesn't make any sense. This is like saying since a crime organization uses USD, we should shut down the US currency.

The Saudi and Qatari involvement occurred in the initial stages, when the Islamic state was divided in to a number of warring factions. The Saudis just wanted to topple Bashar al Assad in Syria, and they were ready to support anyone to achieve their objectives. But when the atrocities of the ISIS came to light, the Saudis quickly hushed up their involvement.

But I'm pretty sure the KSA and other allies trying that their involvement couldn't be exposed by world people.

LOL, at last. They should've beeen doing this for a year or two already.

Except they haven't. The whole article is based on some 17 year old's tweet.

That's strange. Bitcoin is just perfect for funding terrorism =)

So the media thinks.

Except the part about ISIS being full of ignorant desert people that don't even know how to operate an American toilet. Much less scan a QR code.

They have people who editing thieir videos. They have people who reqruiting teeneagers in internet. they have people who establishing blogs tweetters and websites for them. So they will eventually start using bitcoin, lol.

I bet the terrorists are using shoes as well so I have an idea :


Let's ban shoes also ! You can't do much without shoes, especially if you hang out in the desert.

How about low fees, instant international transfer and the fact that it's deflationary? Yes, terrorists can be rational too.

I think they could possibly use bitcoin to financed their cells on other countries.

Even that will be quite difficult. Almost all of the Western nations (including the European Union members such as Germany and France) are monitoring large financial transactions, including those Bitcoin to fiat conversions. So a better option for them will be to move their funds in the form of physical cash.

Like the over 400 million dollars they gained when they took over the Mosul central bank.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/jihadist-us-teen-faces-prison-for-blog-tweets-about-encryption-and-bitcoin/