The United States and the United Kingdom have designated Gaza Now, an online media outlet that supports Hamas, and its founder, Mustafa Ayash, as a key fundraiser for the group. This is a continuing action from the attack in Israel on October 7, indicating the concerted attempt to prevent financial support for Hamas. Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) included one individual and two entities with links to the fundraising operations of Gaza Now. Sanctions also revealed several cryptocurrency addresses Ayash and Gaza Now used to gather funds.
Gaza Now Cryptocurrency Funding
Even though Gaza Now used extensive fundraising methods, their crypto initiatives were just a small fraction of their overall undertakings. Analysis by Elliptic on the blockchain showed that around $21,000 in donations had been given to Gaza Now in crypto after the incident on October 7. Additional findings from TRM Labs’ 2023 Illicit Crypto Economy Report echo the results of Elliptic, showing that cryptocurrency donations to organizations such as Hezbollah and ISIS usually are tiny. It is mentioned in the report that most of these contributions were under $500, with a good portion under $100, and a meager part above $5,000.
Cryptocurrency as the Financing Source of Terrorism
The TRM Labs report also noted the cryptocurrency preference among terrorist financiers, noting an 807% rise in use of Tether (USDT) in the TRON blockchain. This preference can be associated with the low costs of transaction in TRON, its stable prices, and an apparent difficulty in tracing transactions. Regardless of these preferences, the level of cryptocurrency use in terrorism financing is small, with the report emphasizing that most crypto donations are of low value.
The moves against Gaza Now and its allies are one of the tactics that the U.S. and U.K. are using in order to block funding routes to Hamas.