Hamas Military Wing Crowdfunding Bitcoin

[BitHodler]

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.

It doesn't have a big impact because it's simply not true. I mean, sure, there definitely is criminal demand for Bitcoin, but it's by far not as bad as news outlets want you to believe it is.

They are only out to make Bitcoin look bad, or to spice up their articles to have them generate more revenue through ads. It's a business at the end of the day, and they will do everything they can to make money.

With how widely Bitcoin is accepted and adopted, it's the easiest way for them to at least try to collect funds. How many people will donate if you accept Monero? Not many I guess....

[maxreish]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

[Naida_BR]

This shows that Bitcoin is truly beneficial.

If organizations such as Hamas can be funded through Bitcoin then Bitcoin can really overcome some serious institutions on the process. Every new technological advance is used by illegal organizations in order to take advantage of it and reap the benefits before anyone else does.

[mich]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

This was my exact thoughts.  There is such strict guidelines to use Coinbase- I am for some reason banned from the exchange.
Seems like a case of paid off infiltrators and conspirators.
Just thinking out loud how difficult it was for someone like me to work with Coinbase but terrorist organizations are having no problems.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

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.

As for the bolded part above, I can't disagree with this but bitcoin has always existed with the taint of criminality on it--I'm pretty sure you're familiar with Silk Road, so this isn't anything new.  This news shouldn't be a black eye on bitcoin, since the form of money Hamas or any terrorist organization gets isn't really relevant, but I'm sure the media is more than willing to make it into said black eye.

$2500 in a week?  Pffft.  

To NeuroticFish's response:  this is absolutely true, and there's a permanent, public record of those donations.  That would not happen with cash or gold/silver unless it was set up to be traced.  And we know crypto is going to be used for these criminal purposes.  It just isn't newsworthy IMO, because US dollars have been used in crime for centuries now, as has every other form of currency.  This is a story for people who don't know anything about bitcoin, likely written to elicit fear or outrage....the typical media modus operandi.

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.

That's what I'm thinking.  Bitcoin is a currency, after all and can easily be used on the dark web to buy weapons (I think; I've never done business on the dark web), which is right up their alley.  Funny that all of it is completely traceable, so they're going to have a hard time concealing their spending habits and I'm absolutely sure government agencies are watching.

[poptok1]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
I would restrain myself from seeking any conspiracy here. They just created fake account, who know when and where, without full knowledge of how this platform works. Probably even without basic understanding of the bitcoin tech.
I'm speculating here but IMO this is their swan song. 3 more rockets funded with BTC... I bet the politicians from behind the wall tremble in fear.

[crzy]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

They gain some support that allow them to collect some bitcoin. They already raise money meaning bitcoin can really be use for this kind of action, and maybe this is the reason why government are still hate cryptos. They still have the connection in government, and thats why they are too confident to do this.

[Google+]

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.

I think this is a bad step and this is bad news because this is like you giving fees for war there, it's better to use the bitcoin for donations to people who need and not send to terrorists.

[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.

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.

First I would use word terrorism very carefully. I am no pro of social studies, but I am totally positive it is way over used today.  

Second, raising $2500 in a week is a lot?  Do you know how much 100th biggest country raise in a week to found their police and army? So their oppression force. I will tell you that way way way more.


All arguments should be fought by words and not with weapons!!!!

[Pagoda.to]

I guess we always knew that bitcoin is so great that good and bad evils will still be able to use it as they please without anyone to stop them.

[SaepulMT]

This is good news if Bitcoin turns out to be used by many people and the benefits of Bitcoin are very broad, but on the other hand because Bitcoin has been used by Hamas which is considered a terrorist by the USA .little effect on the price of Bitcoin, but not too significant

[Lexurdania]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

They gain some support that allow them to collect some bitcoin. They already raise money meaning bitcoin can really be use for this kind of action, and maybe this is the reason why government are still hate cryptos. They still have the connection in government, and thats why they are too confident to do this.

Every currency like fiat money can use for any action like terorism or others criminal activity. Bitcoin is just a tool and its depending on user want to use. Bitcoin dont have relation with terorism or other criminal activity because every fiat money used for criminal activity too

[wahyu wida]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

They gain some support that allow them to collect some bitcoin. They already raise money meaning bitcoin can really be use for this kind of action, and maybe this is the reason why government are still hate cryptos. They still have the connection in government, and thats why they are too confident to do this.

Every currency like fiat money can use for any action like terorism or others criminal activity. Bitcoin is just a tool and its depending on user want to use. Bitcoin dont have relation with terorism or other criminal activity because every fiat money used for criminal activity too

each currency, either bitcoin or fiat currency, can actually be a means for deviant actions, indeed it depends on the user. because the nature of bitcoin is anonymous, the gap is utilized

[ethereumhunter]

We know that by using bitcoin, we can receive the funds from an anonymous person and I guess many other group or people will use bitcoin to raise the fundraising. But it depends on that person itself, because as long as they can use bitcoin for good things, then people in the outside will know that bitcoin can be used for bad things or good things and it depends on the purposes itself. We cannot judge them by doing the wrong way of using bitcoin because I am sure that there will many people using bitcoin for good things.

[Ranly123]

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.

If this news was true, then the government will act unto it accordingly and would probably be having bad consequences to Bitcoin itself. However even with the progressions, we can say that it could possibly help raise the price of Bitcoin to another level.

[Naida_BR]

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and other strong country, meaning that they should not be allowed to use Coinbase due to KYC and AML procedures. So the question is how they do this without any help of others.

They gain some support that allow them to collect some bitcoin. They already raise money meaning bitcoin can really be use for this kind of action, and maybe this is the reason why government are still hate cryptos. They still have the connection in government, and thats why they are too confident to do this.

We will never know what is going on off the record. The secret intelligence agencies do a lot of work under the people's sight. Maybe Hamas has connections to institutions that we don't know and probably we will never do. The thing that I can be sure of is that the US may know about this funding or they could be part of it.

[ecnalubma]

If they want a stealth crowdfunding then definitely Bitcoin is not the coin for them, they should have shifted to privacy coin instead. This group doesn’t really know how the cryptocurrency works or maybe they’re not aware that Bitcoin system is transparent in nature.

[wuvdoll]

If the option of bitcoin is not available to them right now then they might be trying out the same crowdfunding with some other payment processors like prefect money or something else. Terrorism is not new here and their ways of fund rising is also not new here. It means we should not give attention to this kind of media as they are indirectly trying accuse bitcoins whereas the actual problem is persisting for decades and governments are busy with something else.

Why Forbes (and others) is not at all pointing out on how charities are easily able to collect funds across borders with the help of bitcoins and how easily crypto based crowdfunding are being done and helping new start ups to flourish to bring innovative solutions to old problems.

[Indrawan77]

This is a bad news, some of the people that not understand about bitcoin will accused bitcoin being used for terrorist activity and the government could become hesitate in adopting crypto, but one thing that cross my mind is bitcoin is not too anonymous, we still can trace back the sender, I think the news is a bit odd, the group supposed to be looking for some crypto that really anonymous rather than using bitcoin

[0t3p0t]

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.

I think you have the right opinion mate and this also what I am thinking of. Centralized assets like gold and fiat are proven to be the most asset used in crimes thousands of years ago. After Bitcoin was introduced nothing has changed except for the people to start adopting a more secure asset which is Bitcoin a decentralized currency that is perfect for faster transaction worldwide. All of this seems to me a move to create FUD.