Bitcoin Forum

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has proposed using bitcoin to fund global jihadist efforts.

Sky News reported that a blog post entitled ‘Bitcoin and the Charity of Violent Physical Struggle’ outlines a use case for bitcoin as a vehicle for terrorist financing, noting that its pseudonymous transaction capability fits well within the needs of jihadist organizers. The news site received the article from sources claiming to be members of the Islamic State, the so-called jihadi nation established by the ISIS leadership.

The concept that bitcoin could be used to help fund terrorists has been a long-standing concern among law enforcement and government agencies worldwide. Indeed, many restrictions placed on the use of digital currencies stem from these concerns.

According to the blog post, bitcoin makes it difficult for anti-terrorist financing authorities to stop transactions from taking place. Services such as DarkWallet were specifically cited as methods for making bitcoin payments between terrorists even more untraceable. The blog author noted that bitcoin presents tax evasion benefits as well.

The blog said:

“This system has the potential to revive the lost sunnah of donating to the mujahideen, it is simple, easy, and we ask Allah to hasten its usage for us.”

Notably, the article cites Silk Road as an example of how bitcoin can be used to procure weapons, sell drugs and engage in other illegal activities that support terrorism.

Avoiding detection

Terrorist funders may find bitcoin and other digital currencies attractive owing to the broad supervision and monitoring of the global financial system. Specifically, in the post-9/11 world, many governments actively watch for suspicious money movements.

By using bitcoin, ISIS and other organizations could circumvent legal barriers that keep money away from terrorists. The digital currency’s borderless transaction capabilities and avoidance of major money conduits make it a logical fit for terrorists – and a likely target for law enforcement officials concerned about this exact application.

The blog author wrote that, as a result of anti-terrorism financial restrictions and cooperation between governments on these efforts, jihadist funding has all but dried up. Only the wealthiest supporters are able to contribute by using traditional currencies and payment methods.

However, bitcoin presents a hard-to-trace option for terrorism funding, the ISIS paper continues. As well, block chain-based smart contracts may be used to support jihadist efforts.

The blog post concluded:

“This allows our brothers stuck outside of the ardh Dawlatul-Islam to avoid government taxes [and] secretly fund the mujahideen with no legal danger upon them.”

Call to utilize DarkWallet

For terrorist groups like ISIS, the appeal of bitcoin lies in the ability to mask transactions – or at least hide them amidst the broader movements of the bitcoin network.

The potential use of bitcoin to fund terrorism is being actively investigated by a number of government agencies, including the US Department of Defense.

The article specifically calls for ISIS to use DarkWallet as a platform of funding, saying:

“DarkWallet’s beta release will be published within the next coming months, the mujahideen of Dawlatul­ Islam would simply need to set up a wallet and post their wallet address online. Then, Muslims from across the globe could simply copy the wallet address, login to their [wallets], purchase whatever amount of bitcoin they wish to send, and send them over.”

CoinDesk reached out to the DarkWallet development team for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

By citing DarkWallet specifically, the blog highlights potential avenues for terrorist financiers to use freely available bitcoin services. Beyond bitcoin, there are several altcoins that present potential applications of transaction anonymizing technology that could be leveraged to fund terrorism.

Source "http://www.coindesk.com/isis-bitcoin-donations-fund-jihadist-movements/"

well this is just 'dandy'

use it as an opportunity next week to buy??? :)

Searing

I think bitcoin is now in danger after Talibans using it

There is a huge limit to their sophistication. They are much better at loading a truck full of guys with guns than using the Internet to do much of anything.

Look at how few Americans with computers and smartphones are using Bitcoin. Do you really think a bunch of Syrians and Iraqis will be paying for things with bitcoins any time soon?

There are many technological advances in the world that they could use to their advantage (nanotechnology, quantum computing, DNA mapping, etc.).

There is a huge gap between what "could" be done and what is likely.

I won't hold my breath for widespread Bitcoin use among Iraqis.

I hate how they do whatever they can to hit bitcoin.  >:( >:( >:(
ISIS have been funded by robbing banks at Mosul and by the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,Turkey and more.
pfff I am so pisse dof now....

I personally think the dollar should be banned because that is what everyone is currently using for illicit activity.

there was already a topic about this.

in short, one single blogger.. not the whole 2 nations of seria or iraq.. just one blogger talked about bitcoin in relation to the situation. then sky news exaggerated it, which then rippled to yahoo, msn and other media..

total FUD

secondly ISIS is not a group of extremists in those 2 countries. ISIS is an american word to describe any/all/some (whatever they please) citizens of seria/iraq. so that inclues man women child and elderly.. with guns or without. ISIS is not a name given by those people, but by america.

the whole ISIS is fully B.S

more americans have gone to seria and iraq and killed more natives there, stolen more property.. then has ever happened th other way around.

watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2FSMvrlUlY

you will see who sounds like a terrorist more

P.S. dont read the news, it will make you dumb

This.

Thanks Obama G.W. Bush !

Terrorists use MONEY? No way.

Next you'll be telling me that they use the US$$ to buy weapons and stuff...
Oh wait..

Yeah Taliban get funded for buying their weapons and explosive etc.

stop using hashtag in a forum ...  ::)

Why would they use bitcoin when they can easily launder USD though financial cartels like HSBC?

Think this non-story has already been given too much airtime, wish Coindesk would stop publishing sensationalist drivel, soon they'll be the crypto equivalent of Fox News.

They could, in theory move a lot of money around with bitcoin but with AML rules in places to exchange your bitcoin for fiat it would be very difficult to convert their bitcoin to fait.

I would also think that terrorist groups would have difficulty spending their bitcoin for things like bombs and other "war tools" as they would have the same issues with others not wanting to deal with terrorist groups

Yes total FUD.
Quite sad.
just wait a few days and we will get some nice congressman jumping on it, advocating total ban!

And all the while the good old Saudi wire transfers from HSBC still working fine...

Probably the dollar should be punished too, cause most of the illegal trades allegadly uses this currency, am I right?

The opening salvo by traditional fiat system versus crypto currency.  This will be interesting...  By the way, the cartels figured this out a long time ago.  I have no doubt the extremists aren't new to it, either.  And I'll even speculate that they were specifically taught to do it.  The next question is, who would have been savvy enough to provide a means of untraceable funding dating back to 2009?

Agreed. They are as predictable as you can get. Terrorism, organized crime, money laundering, and child porn will be the rotating buzzwords to scare people away from bit coin.  The low information thinkers will lap it right up.

Seems to me that this was just one blogger -- "linked" may be laying it on a bit thick. This was no official announcement/endorsement or anything. It's being blown out of proportion.

By the way, which currency is terrorism usually funded with, anyway? :)

Most of them can't even read, they don't even know how to sit down on the toilet to shit.

Just because someone can think of a theoretical way that something can be done, does not mean that it has the real world possibility of being done.

ISIS could use nanotechnology to carry a virus through the air, inject it into your blood stream then duplicate and fly on to the next person!

It is pretty much a non story. The media likes to sensationalize stuff and especially so when they can hammer away at something that is a threat to the status quo.

Who are you referring to when you say "they"? I'm not sure I like the direction that this is going in... just saying, I hope we can keep this thread civil and all... :)

What this article forgets to mention is how terrorists will be able to turn their bitcoin into some kind of fiat that can pay for their terrorist activities and/or how their bitcoin can pay for their terrorist activities.

Bitcoin exchanges are very strict about AML and KYC so even if the ISIS were to get ahold of, say 100 BTC, they couldn't do very much with it.

Sure they could.  Pass it through one of the religious organizations taking donations in the US and you have clean, tax free money.  Reconvert it to bitcoin and send it to whatever country you want.  You'd be surprised how much money flows through these organizations.  The most recent incident I can think of was a Muslim organization in Dallas, TX that was raided by the FBI.  Christians aren't the only ones that take donations (in the six, seven, and eight figures) to be used for overseas missions.  Indians do it.  Muslims do it.  Even the Asians do it.  Massive amounts of funds are exported for religious charitable organizations.  100 bitcoin washed through one of these won't make it on the radar.

On this subject, the direction might not be the one he was thinking about, actually not sitting down on the toilet might be better for your health!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_defecation_postures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_defecation_postures)

just saying...

But you can do that now with fiat currency. I don't see how it would be an advantage to any nefarious organizations when converting it on an exchange would create a trail. 

I remember reading about Osama having an unencrypted conference via Skype, I don't think that terrorists are nearly sophisticated enough to grasp the concept of Bitcoin however it could become a concern in the future, especially considering the fact that the Quran forbids the use of fractional reserve banking systems, effectively not allowing any muslim to use any modern bank (most muslims do chose to follow their religion in a rather selective manner though).

This story was void of truth, by a security expert posting on reddit. He says the terminology used, is incorrect and have serious doubts about it validity.

Seems like just another propaganda or fluff story, to create hype around bitcoin. It's a pity. Some people forget fiat is used daily to fund terrorist activities, so why is bitcoin so special?

Why use bitcoin anyways? {It leaves digital bread crumbs to follow, so it's stupid to use a currency, that can and will be traced}

When will people realize, bitcoin is just another currency in digital form, and it is not annonymous. 

More of the same media fud trying to tarnish Bitcoin and relate it to the boogie men(terrorists).  Nobody wants to talk about the evidence of the US government funding terrorists with dollars. drugs and gold which I find odd.

I agree this is bad news, but it isn't surprising. Criminal enterprise's have been using bitcoin for a long time now (Selling massive amounts of drugs, etc)

Spoken like a true 16 year old. What is massive to you? No one is selling tonnes of cocaine using Bitcoin, there is more drug money moved through HSBC in two weeks that Bitcoin has moved in its existence.

Spoken like a true delusional maggot. Irrelevant argument. Bitcoin has been a breeding ground for crime.

Please bless us with some of your wisdom and knowledge some more fellow padawan.

These two are trying to spin this around as if my point of view hasn't been expressed by many member's of the community before.

I cant tell.... will this be good or bad for bitcoin? As in the price going up or down... It means more people *may* buy bitcoin, but not necessarily for good things

I don't think that bitcoin would affect anything if terrorists were to launder money this way.

What you are describing is how they would launder fiat. They would have no reason to use bitcoin.

I think this may be a bad thing, it will encourage more countries to re-consider the regulation of cryptocurrency, including BTC.

I refer to the locals. Having been deployed to Iraq and currently being in Afghanistan I have seen the biohazard left behind after a local has had access to the facilities. If you can't figure out how to flush a toilet, figuring out Bitcoin might be a bit of a stretch.

As for not being able to read, it is well known that less than 20% of the Afghanis are literate.

well i don't think that tali's have the knowledge to handle btc. they will lost everything in HYIPs and Ponzis.also lot's of scammers are going to rip the fuck out of their wallets.also they can even mine it.too hot over there for mining and not that much electricity if you consider that many cities over there don't have electricity supply 24 hours a day. also i don't think anyone has this amount of explosives and guns to provide to them using btc. biggest physical black markets still accept fiat.

EDIT: This is a propaganda game made by the governments in order to TAG btc as a terrorist weapon and mute it.