The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has sanctioned a crypto operator allegedly linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In an Oct. 18 discover, OFAC announced sanctions for Hamas operatives and monetary facilitators following the group’s assault on Israel. The entities added to OFAC’s listing of specifically designated nationals included a “Gaza-based virtual currency exchange and its operator” with a Bitcoin (BTC) pockets deal with.
According to the Treasury Department, the sanctions have been geared toward “root[ing] out Hamas’s sources of revenue” following an Oct. 7 assault that resulted within the deaths of many Israelis. The alternate utilizing digital forex, named Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, is operated by Gaza resident Khan Yunis — with the Treasury alleging that each the agency and Yunis have been “linked to Hamas”. Ahmed M.M. Alaqad, the proprietor of the enterprise, was additionally named within the sanctions.
“We will continue to take all steps necessary to deny Hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities and terrorize the people of Israel,” stated Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “That includes by imposing sanctions and coordinating with allies and partners to track, freeze, and seize any Hamas-related assets in their jurisdictions.”
Today, Treasury imposed sanctions on ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operatives, and monetary facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere as a part of a steady effort by the U.S. to root out Hamas’s sources of income. https://t.co/KZtF6K60id
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) October 18, 2023
Blockchain analytics agency Elliptic reported on Oct. 18 that a number of terrorist teams had used the cash switch firm, with greater than $25 million in BTC and Tether (USDT) shifting by the agency since 2015. In addition to Hamas, the entities allegedly linked to the agency included an al-Qaeda affiliate and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
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The U.S. Treasury has typically used sanctions as a instrument to weaken monetary assist for entities alleged to have been concerned in terrorism or different illicit actions. On Oct. 3, the Treasury announced sanctions against crypto wallets tied to China-based chemical producers in parallel with an indictment from the Justice Department over the manufacturing of the drug fentanyl.
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