-
Gaza
Now
and
its
founder
have
been
sanctioned
for
facilitating
financial
donations
for
Hamas
in
the
wake
of
the
October
7
attack
in
Israel -
Elliptic
found
that
Gaza
Now
received
$21,000
in
crypto-denominated
donations
in
the
weeks
after
the
attack -
Crypto
donations
continue
to
be
a
small
slice
of
the
overall
terrorist
financing
landscape,
with
most
donations
are
under
$500
according
to
a
new
report
from
TRM
Labs
Gaza
Now,
a
pro-Hamas
online
media
channel,
has
been
jointly
sanctioned
by
the
U.S.
and
the
United
Kingdom
for
facilitating
public
fundraising
for
Hamas
in
the
wake
of
the
October
7
attack
in
Israel.
The
U.S.
Treasury
Department’s
Office
of
Foreign
Asset
Control
(OFAC)
and
the
U.K.’s
Office
of
Foreign
Sanctions
Implementation
also
issued
sanctions
against
Gaza
Now’s
founder,
Mustafa
Ayash,
as
well
as
another
person
and
two
other
entities
they
claim
were
working
with
Gaza
Now
on
multiple
fundraising
efforts,
listing
several
cryptocurrency
addresses
Ayash
and
Gaza
Now
used
to
raise
funds.
The
sanctions
against
Gaza
Now
and
its
founder
are
the
latest
in
a
string
of
similar
sanctions
against
other
‘financial
facilitators’
it
has
said
are
supporting
Hamas
–
including
Buy
Cash,
a
Gaza-based
crypto
exchange
and
its
owner
in
October
2023.
“Treasury
remains
committed
to
degrading
Hamas’
ability
to
finance
its
terrorist
activities,
including
through
online
fundraising
campaigns
that
seek
to
funnel
money
directly
to
the
group,”
said
Under
Secretary
of
the
Treasury
for
Terrorism
and
Financial
Intelligence
Brian
E.
Nelson
in
a
Wednesday
press
statement.
“The
United
States,
in
close
coordination
with
our
British
partners,
will
continue
to
leverage
our
tools
to
disrupt
Hamas’
ability
to
facilitate
further
attacks.”
As
part
of
its
fundraising
attempts,
Gaza
Now
accepted
crypto
donations.
But
crypto
made
up
only
a
small
slice
of
its
overall
efforts:
according
to
blockchain
research
firm
Elliptic,
the
group
only
received
$21,000
in
crypto
in
the
weeks
after
October
7.
The
figure
tracks
with
new
research
from
another
blockchain
research
firm,
TRM
Labs,
which
found
that
crypto-denominated
fundraising
for
Hamas
and
other
terrorist
organizations,
including
ISIS,
tends
to
be
small
in
scale.
According
to
TRM’s
2023
Illicit
Crypto
Economy
Report,
three-quarters
of
terrorism-linked
donations
last
year
were
under
$500
–
and
40%
were
under
$100.
Only
3%
of
crypto
donations
were
over
$5,000.
Of
the
terrorist
financing
entities
using
crypto,
however,
Tether
(USDT)
on
the
TRON
blockchain
was
the
most
popular
choice
in
2023,
with
a
125%
increase
in
TRON
addresses
linked
to
terrorist
financing
last
year,
according
to
the
TRM
report.
According
to
the
report,
terrorist
financing
entities
could
be
drawn
to
TRON
for
its
relatively
low
gas
fees,
minimal
price
fluctuations
and
“a
residual
–
but
outdated
–
perception
that
it
is
more
difficult
to
trace.”
Nikhilesh
De
edited
this
story.