Terror victims claim DOJ withholding share of $4.3B Binance penalty

September 26, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France: TON Price Plummets

August 24, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Cash Remains Main Financing Method for Terrorist Groups, Though Use of Crypto Is Rising: Singaporean Government

July 27, 2024 The Daily Hodl

Binance Exchange Slapped With a Lawsuit in New York by Victims of October 7 Hamas Attack on Israel: Report

February 2, 2024 The Daily Hodl

Watchdog group doubles down on Circle-Tron money laundering claims

December 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

US senators target crypto in bill enforcing sanctions on terrorist groups

December 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Senator Elizabeth Warren isn’t leading the charge on this bill linking crypto transactions to terrorism — it comes from Senators Mitt Romney, Mark Warner, Mike Rounds and Jack Reed.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States Senate introduced legislation aimed at countering cryptocurrency’s role in financing terrorism, explicitly citing the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

In a Dec. 7 announcement, Senators Mitt Romney, Mark Warner, Mike Rounds, and Jack Reed said they had introduced the Terrorism Financing Prevention Act. The bill would expand U.S. sanctions to include parties funding terrorist organizations with cryptocurrency or fiat. According to Senator Romney, the legislation would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to go after “emerging threats involving digital assets” in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks as well as actions by the terrorist group Hezbollah.

“It is critical that the Department of the Treasury has the necessary counter-terrorism tools to combat modern threats,” said Senator Rounds. “The Terrorism Financing Prevention Act takes commonsense steps toward rooting out terrorism by sanctioning foreign financial institutions and foreign digital asset companies that assist them in committing these heinous acts.”

Circle denies claims of illicit financing and ties to Justin Sun

November 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Circle

According to an open letter published on Circle’s blog, the company has not provided services to Justin Sun since February.

USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has denied claims of illicit financing and ties to Tron founder Justin Sun, according to an open letter accessed from Circle’s blog on Nov.

*Circle open letter to U.S. Source: Circle.*

The post was published on Nov.

In the letter, Disparte claimed that Circle has “recently became aware” of “false” claims being made about it by the “so-called Campaign for Accountability (“CfA”).

Disparte dismissed the allegation that Circle facilitated “major flows of funds to Hamas or Hezbollah,” claiming instead that these accusations are based on uncorroborated, unverified posts to social media.

Disparte also claimed that Circle stopped providing services to Justin Sun in February, 2023, stating:

“Neither Mr. Sun and his affiliated companies in February 2023.”

The open letter from Circle appears to have been sent in response to a Nov. CfA’s letter claimed that Circle has extensive ties to Justin Sun’s Tron Foundation and major Wall Street investors and that Sun’s cross-chain protocol, SunSwap, is often used for money laundering.

Claims that crypto is being used to finance terrorism have been commonplace since the Israeli-Hamas war broke out on Oct. The media outlet later corrected its story, stating instead that $12 million in crypto “may have been” sent to these organizations.

US House Financial Services subcommittee looks for answers on crypto and crime

November 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Reports on crypto funding terrorism and blockchain forensics were confusing, but everyone agreed on the need for collaboration and regulation.

The United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion received an education in the uses of blockchain technology in a hearing titled “Crypto Crime in Context: Breaking Down the Illicit Activity in Digital Assets” on Nov. 15. The hearing was bipartisan in nature, chair French Hill stated at the outset.

Hill began the meeting by citing an article published by The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 10 on the use of crypto by Hamas for fundraising. The article was corrected on Oct. 27 to reflect more accurately crucial data produced by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, as Hill also mentioned. He continued:

“Phone and the internet aren’t to be blamed for terror financing, and crypto shouldn’t either.”

In a similar vein, subcommittee ranking member Stephen Lynch stated the hope that “we can put aside some of the preconceived notions some may have.”

*The House subcommittee hearing announcement. Source: The House Financial Services Committee*

The panel of witnesses included representatives of Consensys and Chainalysis, as well as forensic experts and a senior counsel from law firm Hogan Lovells. They spoke about the need for international collaboration and public-private collaboration in stopping the misuse of digital assets, the need for well-crafted legislation and the intricacies of blockchain sleuthing.

Representative Brad Sherman asked Dynamic Securities Analytics president Alison Jimenez for an example of a licit use of a crypto mixer, which she was unable to provide.

Plenty of other voices wanted to be heard at the same time on this topic. Hill, Representative Tom Emmer, Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry and Representative Ritchie Torres were lead signers, along with a bipartisan group of 53 more House members, of a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Nov. 15.

The letter requested information on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fundraising and the role of cryptocurrency in its efforts. The letter stated:

“It is important to understand the scope of Hamas’s digital assets fundraising campaign in the context of its traditional funding activities.”

It went on to say that traditional fundraising methods “could far exceed” the revenue brought in through crypto, and Congress needs assistance “understanding the size, scope, and duration of Hamas’s digital asset fundraising campaign, as well as accurate information on blocked or forfeited digital assets from terrorist organizations.”

The letter cites the same Wall Street Journal article. On Nov. 12, the WSJ published a second article by the same authors on the use of crypto to funnel money to Hamas.

Also on Nov. 15, the Blockchain Association released an open letter to Hill and other members of the Financial Services Committee. That letter was signed by 40 former members of the U.S. military, intelligence officers and national security professionals who now have links to digital assets companies or venture capital.

#HappeningNow: Chairman @RepFrenchHill convenes the Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee for a hearing entitled "Crypto Crime in Context: Breaking Down the Illicit Activity in Digital Assets."

Watch Live https://t.co/r2ydRRrWvp pic.twitter.com/Wfrz90FdVR
— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) November 15, 2023

They also mentioned the earlier WSJ article, saying they were concerned that the “grossly overstated” and “debunked” article “continues to be used to push legislation that would be counterproductive to U.S. national security interests.”

Encouraging the growth of a regulated, compliant digital asset industry in the United States is the best way to root out bad actors, the letter continued.

Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixers

Ethics watchdog rats out Circle for links to Tron in letter to Sens. Warren, Brown

November 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Circle

The Campaign for Accountability wanted to let the anti-crypto senators know that the threat of terrorist financing with crypto was worse than they thought.

Nonprofit ethics group Campaign for Accountability (CfA) sent a letter to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown on Nov. 9 to present them with information on the alleged use of cryptocurrency in money laundering. The letter discussed the Tron blockchain and stablecoin issuer Circle in particular.

In the letter signed by CfA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith, it is alleged that USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has extensive ties to both Justin Sun’s Tron Foundation (TRX) and major Wall Street investors such as Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon and Blackrock.

Kuppersmith called Circle’s connections to Wall Street “surprising" in light of its supposed lack of regulation and Tron's alleged connections with terrorism financing.

Tron is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for unregistered securities sales and has been linked to the alleged financing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and possibly Hamas and Hezbollah, the letter outlined. Meanwhile, it claimed that $400 million worth of USDC is in the Tron ecosystem. The letter said:

“Recently published studies and reports of law enforcement operations indicate a prominent US- based cryptocurrency company backed by major Wall Street investment houses [Circle] may be directly or indirectly compromised by its integration with an Asia-based network of trading platforms and cryptocurrencies.”

That network, Tron, “has been named in multiple international law enforcement actions involving billions of dollars in transactions by alleged organized crime groups and sanctioned entities.”

These concerns go beyond the issues raised in the letter the senators, along with over 100 other legislators, sent to the National Security Advisor and Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Kuppersmith added. The letter referred to was sent by the bipartisan group of lawmakers on Oct. 17. Crypto advocacy groups took issue with several of the claims made in that letter.

The CfA letter to Sens. Brown and Warren. Source: CfA

Furthermore, the letter questions Circle's apparent lack of regulation, and its operation of an “unregulated cross chain protocol.”

"While Goldman, BNY and Blackrock are all registered with and regulated by multiple federal and state banking and securities authorities, Circle has either avoided or failed to subject itself to primary prudential regulation since its founding a decade ago, a concern Campaign for Accountability flagged to the SEC in May of 2022," the letter outlines.

On Nov. 10, the CfA also submitted a comment on the Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s October proposal to designate crypto mixers as money-laundering hubs.

The proposal “is worthwhile but may soon be obsolete unless the scope of the regulation is broadened to include newer methods criminal groups have adopted using virtual currencies,” the organization said.

Despite being a US company, Circle has either avoided or failed to subject itself to primary or prudential regulation since its founding a decade ago, a concern Campaign for Accountability flagged to the SEC in May of 2022. https://t.co/4s8w98JL8S
— Campaign for Accountability (@Accountable_Org) November 9, 2023

In the comment, the CfA discusses cross-chain protocols and Sun’s SunSwap decentralized exchange protocol, which blockchain forensics firm Elliptic has identified as “the medium where terrorist organizations obtain the necessary [digital currency].”

The organization adds that “Sun is reported to have direct ties to the Communist Party of China,” citing a report that Sun participated in a research project at China’s Central Party School.

Magazine: Justin Sun’s SUI-farming sins, PEPE’s wild run, 3AC’s oyster philosophy: Asia Express

Cynthia Lummis leads the charge calling for DOJ action against Binance and Tether

October 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative French Hill urged the Justice Department to take “swift action” against Binance and Tether over facilitating funds for Hamas.

Cynthia Lummis, a crypto proponent representing Wyoming in the United States Senate, has called on the U.S. Justice Department to consider charges against crypto exchange Binance following the terrorist group Hamas’ attack on Israel.

In an Oct. 26 letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Lummis and Arkansas Representative French Hill urged Justice Department officials to “reach a charging decision on Binance” and “expeditiously conclude” investigations of allegedly illicit activities involving Tether. The two lawmakers’ remarks followed Hamas launching a coordinated attack against Israel on Oct. 7, which they suggested was supported in part by illicit crypto transactions “providing significant terrorism financing.”

“We urge the Department of Justice to carefully evaluate the extent to which Binance and Tether are providing material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act,” said Lummis and Hill. “To that end, we strongly support swift action by the Department of Justice against Binance and Tether to choke off sources of funding to the terrorists currently targeting Israel.”

When it comes to illicit finance, crypto is not the enemy - bad actors are.

I sent a letter asking DOJ to finish its investigation and consider criminal charges against Binance and Tether after reports they served as intermediaries for Hamas and engaged in illicit activities. pic.twitter.com/M3KGNFkpWc
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) October 26, 2023

The letter by Lummis, a Bitcoiner and supporter of crypto legislation in Congress, and Hill, the chair of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, echoed sentiments expressed by Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers linking crypto payments to terrorist activities. In contrast to Warren, however, the two Republican lawmakers directed the Justice Department to focus on “bad actors” — in this case, including Binance and Tether.

“[W]e must be careful not to paint all crypto asset intermediaries as suspect when a small handful of bad actors use them for nefarious purposes,” said the letter. “Many crypto asset intermediaries seek to comply with U.S. sanctions and money laundering laws, correctly viewing the regulations as necessary to unlock the promise of crypto assets and distributed ledger technology.”

In the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks, crypto exchange Binance froze accounts linked to Hamas following requests from Israeli law enforcement. However, Lummis and Hill labeled this action as insufficient after the fact, as the exchange allowed terrorist groups to conduct business or was “willfully blind” in doing so. They made similar allegations against Tether for “knowingly facilitating violations of applicable sanctions laws.”

“While some reports claim Binance is now cooperating with Israeli law enforcement, this is immaterial to criminal culpability because Binance is only doing so after knowingly allowing its exchange to be used by terrorist organizations, and only after they have been caught.”

On Oct. 25, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic released a statement directed to U.S. lawmakers and the media saying there was “no evidence” Hamas had received a significant volume of crypto payments to fund its attacks against Israel. Compared to the millions of dollars claimed by other media outlets, Elliptic said one Hamas-linked campaign had raised only $21,000 since the Oct. 7 attack.

Magazine: The Truth Behind Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution: An on-the-ground report

terrorism

Share this video