Hamas Military Wing Crowdfunding Bitcoin

[mich]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/yayafanusie/2019/02/04/hamas-military-wing-crowdfunding-bitcoin/#230531d74d7f

Jihadists are at it again, trying to raise money through Bitcoin. And this time, their efforts may be getting some traction.

Last week, the military wing of Hamas, known as the al-Qassam Brigades, called on supporters to send Bitcoin to the group. The U.S. designated Hamas as a terrorist group in 1997 and has shut down charities for funding the organization. Since 2007, the jihadist organization has governed the Gaza Strip. It has been under financial strain in recent years, however, largely due to sanctions applied to the group by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but also because of diminishing support from Iran, neighboring Egypt closing off smuggling tunnels, and economic pressure from the U.S., Europe, Israel, and some Arab countries.


Soon after announcing its intention to crowdfund through Bitcoin, the al-Qassam Brigades posted infographics about Bitcoin on social media and provided a Bitcoin address to which donors could send funds. Within a day, the Hamas digital wallet received roughly $900, although it can not be verified if all funds came from external parties. Most donations were less than $100, although a few were larger. Then, days later, the group posted an additional Bitcoin address.
In less than a week, its wallets received over $2,500 worth of Bitcoin.

[avikz]

That's bad and that's an actual risk that the enforcement agencies are talking since the inception of bitcoin. We can't ignore the fact that bitcoin comes with the increased risk of fraud, scam and terrorism funding which actually damages its reputation. I hope the account holders that are funding against humanity gets caught soon for the betterment of crypto ecosystem. This is one kind of adoption that we never wanted in this system.

[NeuroticFish]

That's bad and that's an actual risk that the enforcement agencies are talking since the inception of bitcoin. We can't ignore the fact that bitcoin comes with the increased risk of fraud, scam and terrorism funding which actually damages its reputation. I hope the account holders that are funding against humanity gets caught soon for the betterment of crypto ecosystem. This is one kind of adoption that we never wanted in this system.

On the other hand, if they wouldn't have used Bitcoin, we wouldn't even know these numbers.
Just imagine that they probably use for this same purpose all they can: fiat money of various flavors, gold and whatever holds value.
I think that with Bitcoin the reality (however bad) can be revealed easier. It's a step forward.

[Febo]

In less than a week, its wallets received over $2,500 worth of Bitcoin.

If they plan to do something significant with it they will have to hold to at least 2022.  You cant do a revolution pocket less.

[exstasie]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/yayafanusie/2019/02/04/hamas-military-wing-crowdfunding-bitcoin/#230531d74d7f

Soon after announcing its intention to crowdfund through Bitcoin, the al-Qassam Brigades posted infographics about Bitcoin on social media and provided a Bitcoin address to which donors could send funds. Within a day, the Hamas digital wallet received roughly $900, although it can not be verified if all funds came from external parties. Most donations were less than $100, although a few were larger. Then, days later, the group posted an additional Bitcoin address.
In less than a week, its wallets received over $2,500 worth of Bitcoin.

For now, we can take comfort in the fact that they only raised chump change. Police agencies are worried about terrorists moving millions of dollars, not a hundred bucks here and there.

Fearmongering about this kind of stuff has always been with us. Child pornographers, jihadists, drug traffickers, whatever. There's nothing we can do about it. Criminals use money, and Bitcoin is money, so.......

[creeps]

In less than a week, its wallets received over $2,500 worth of Bitcoin.

If they plan to do something significant with it they will have to hold to at least 2022.  You cant do a revolution pocket less.

Raising that kind of money in just one week is very alarming, and if there is someone who really support this kind of action should be accountable for the future revolution. This is a preparation for a big revolution for sure, they are trying to collect money now to fund their plan. This is why some government are against cryptocurrency, because it can really use for terrorism, it can hurt the market again for sure.

[peter0425]

If they're really wanted to raise funds without government following them then bitcoin is not a good coin. I'm sure alphabets agency are going after that address that the moment they exchange them the funds will be frozen. Well, this is bad news for crypto and I'm sure media will ride this one and make bitcoin bad again.

[davis196]

This will fuel the "bitcoin is used by terrorists" FUD shit.I think that their halala(if that was the name) system is more anoymous and harder to track than bitcoin transactions and they can't use btc to buy stuff.
What's going on in the middle east again?Is Hamas going to attack Izrael?

[1Referee]

Raising that kind of money in just one week is very alarming, and if there is someone who really support this kind of action should be accountable for the future revolution.

$2500 is an alarming amount? The only alarming thing about this is that it shows how little demand there is to finance these groups with Bitcoin.

It wouldn't even surprise me if hamas itself went first to "donate" in order to make it look like they are collecting funds from external parties. These groups thrive on propaganda and want to make themselves look as big as possible in the media. It's just one big muppet show.

News outlets love these developments, because it allows them to cover a subject that for once isn't focused around the price going up or down.

[tyz]

Jihadists are at it again, trying to raise money through Bitcoin. And this time, their efforts may be getting some traction.

The real surprise is not that they use cryptocurrencies because there were sanctions going on this organization. The surprise is that they use Bitcoin rather than a privacy coin like Monero. This makes donors much easier to identify through the blockchain. This also shows some inexperience in dealing with cryptocurrencies from the Hamas and the donors.

[dothebeats]

And this might again, cause an outrage over anti-bitcoiners thinking that bitcoin is designed to support terrorists instead of doing something good for the people. Good thing though that they aren't receiving that much support in bitcoin, though we don't know how much are they receiving in fiat deposits since the trail over that medium is somewhat tricky for people to follow. Anyway, this just goes to show that any form of money and currency is subject to evil and nefarious use, so this shouldn't be surprising in any way.

[Lucius]

Money can in any form be used for good or bad things, but it is interesting that media like to link BTC mostly with such news. Hamas can be a threat only for Israel, so this is a so-called local terrorist organization which can be destroyed at any time, but it serves for its purpose that the world may be in fear of terrorism. In this way governments can bring laws that encourage them to hit more and more in human freedoms, and people agree to it in fear of their lives.

This will fuel the "bitcoin is used by terrorists" FUD shit.I think that their halala(if that was the name) system is more anoymous and harder to track than bitcoin transactions and they can't use btc to buy stuff.
What's going on in the middle east again?Is Hamas going to attack Izrael?

If you really meant on halala, this is just Saudi Riyal currency (one hundredth of Riyal), but I did not know that this currency is more anonymous then BTC transaction?

Even if Hamas attack Israel, they will do that like always with missiles - and then Israel will show all its military strength and send them in stone age like always.

[ayshagotyou]

Unfortunately, this will be a long time to pursue cryptocurrency. Decentralization and anonymity are used for bad purposes and because of this the government will try to control them even more.

[Saint-loup]

After Hamas's military wing published a bitcoin address on Telegram on Thursday identified by Whitestream as the wallet address of Coinbase, the same Telegram channel published a second bitcoin address for collecting donations on Saturday, this time a digital wallet apparently unrelated to Coinbase. Levy explained to "Globes" today that according to a check by Whitestream, within two days of the publication of the first bitcoin address, two relatively small bitcoin donations addresses were published amounting to only $2,500.

Whitestream discovered that one of the bitcoin donations transferred to Hamas's Coinbase wallet was sent on Thursday from a "Buy Cash" bitcoin trader in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. Other bitcoin donations were sent to the Palestinian organization from wallets connected to Chinese cryptocurrencies exchange Binance and Russian cryptocurrencies exchange Vilkov, and from a wallet of another Coinbase account. Whitestream's check also revealed that bitcoin donations were sent late last week from Hamas's coinbase wallet to two bitcoin wallets: one belonging to CoinPayments, a company registered in the Cayman Islands, and one belonging to Binance.

The second Hamas bitcoin address has so far received donations from wallets of US trading platforms Bittrex and Coinbase, from Binance and Vilkov wallets, and from the coinMixer.io mixing service. Mixing technology mixes different addresses of digital currencies, thereby making it difficult to identify their users. Levy told "Globes" that the Hamas Coinbase wallet may have been blocked, and another wallet opened for collecting donations. The Whitestream team will continue monitoring incoming and outgoing transactions on Hamas's bitcoin addresses in the near future.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-hamas-raises-bitcoin-donations-via-us-crypto-exchange-1001271661

[Saint-loup]

Old wallet : https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/3PajPWymUexhewHPczmLQ8CMYatKAGNj3y

Current wallet : https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/17QAWGVpFV4gZ25NQug46e5mBho4uDP6MD

[eaLiTy]

Jihadists are at it again, trying to raise money through Bitcoin. And this time, their efforts may be getting some traction.

So how are they going to cash out the coins, with the help of government structure. I heard this news a long back and I am not sure the same news is being reshuffled once again as they have no news to tell. Either way even if they source funds they need to cash out and I am not sure how they are going to do that without the help of any government as every transactions is recorded and nothing can be done about it.

[exstasie]

After Hamas's military wing published a bitcoin address on Telegram on Thursday identified by Whitestream as the wallet address of Coinbase, the same Telegram channel published a second bitcoin address for collecting donations on Saturday, this time a digital wallet apparently unrelated to Coinbase. Levy explained to "Globes" today that according to a check by Whitestream, within two days of the publication of the first bitcoin address, two relatively small bitcoin donations addresses were published amounting to only $2,500.

Whitestream discovered that one of the bitcoin donations transferred to Hamas's Coinbase wallet was sent on Thursday from a "Buy Cash" bitcoin trader in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. Other bitcoin donations were sent to the Palestinian organization from wallets connected to Chinese cryptocurrencies exchange Binance and Russian cryptocurrencies exchange Vilkov, and from a wallet of another Coinbase account. Whitestream's check also revealed that bitcoin donations were sent late last week from Hamas's coinbase wallet to two bitcoin wallets: one belonging to CoinPayments, a company registered in the Cayman Islands, and one belonging to Binance.

The second Hamas bitcoin address has so far received donations from wallets of US trading platforms Bittrex and Coinbase, from Binance and Vilkov wallets, and from the coinMixer.io mixing service. Mixing technology mixes different addresses of digital currencies, thereby making it difficult to identify their users. Levy told "Globes" that the Hamas Coinbase wallet may have been blocked, and another wallet opened for collecting donations. The Whitestream team will continue monitoring incoming and outgoing transactions on Hamas's bitcoin addresses in the near future.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-hamas-raises-bitcoin-donations-via-us-crypto-exchange-1001271661

"Hamas's Coinbase wallet"

I guess these guys don't know how Coinbase operates. That account is getting shut down, if it hasn't been already. Sounds like they'll probably get their Binance account shut down too. Publicly raising funds for a designated terrorist organization is one thing.....but having those funds sent directly to exchanges is just stupid.

[aceptamosbitcoin]

That's bad and that's an actual risk that the enforcement agencies are talking since the inception of bitcoin. We can't ignore the fact that bitcoin comes with the increased risk of fraud, scam and terrorism funding which actually damages its reputation. I hope the account holders that are funding against humanity gets caught soon for the betterment of crypto ecosystem. This is one kind of adoption that we never wanted in this system.

Like there wasn't any terrorism or drug deals or scams before the Bitcoin existence. Suddenly everything started just 10 years ago
The news will be used for FUD for sure, but I don't think it will lead to something more serious.

Edit: just a quick example = https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2018/11/19/509636.htm
They are talking about 200B Euro's or just 80 000 000 bigger amount than OP's stated wallet.

[tomahawk9]

Old wallet : https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/3PajPWymUexhewHPczmLQ8CMYatKAGNj3y

Current wallet : https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/17QAWGVpFV4gZ25NQug46e5mBho4uDP6MD

Interesting. So, between both wallets, they've received around 1.01 btc, doesn't sound like a lot, then again, I don't know how much a terrorist groups needs to cover their "needs"...Still, i'm surprised they've received that much.

So how are they going to cash out the coins

Maybe they don't need to covert to fiat, I mean, you can buy weapons and illicit stuff with btc on the black market so there's no need to cash out.

Well, this is bad news for crypto

Nah, it really isn't. Bitcoin has been linked to illicit activies and cyber crimes for many years, you would think that they would have a big impact on the market and especially bitcoin, but nothing has happened.

[Dreamchaser21]

That's bad and that's an actual risk that the enforcement agencies are talking since the inception of bitcoin. We can't ignore the fact that bitcoin comes with the increased risk of fraud, scam and terrorism funding which actually damages its reputation. I hope the account holders that are funding against humanity gets caught soon for the betterment of crypto ecosystem. This is one kind of adoption that we never wanted in this system.

Like there wasn't any terrorism or drug deals or scams before the Bitcoin existence. Suddenly everything started just 10 years ago
The news will be used for FUD for sure, but I don't think it will lead to something more serious.

Edit: just a quick example = https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2018/11/19/509636.htm
They are talking about 200B Euro's or just 80 000 000 bigger amount than OP's stated wallet.

Nothing new it just happen that they are using bitcoin now to fund their plan and trying to collect an easy money. But thankfully, they are just raising a small amount which means more people are still want to use their bitcoin in the right way, better not to support them at all.