- Blockchain firm Elliptic has criticized the use of data on terrorism funding through cryptocurrencies
- The Wall Street Journal used Elliptic’s data to claim that terrorist groups in Gazahad raised tens of millions of dollars pre-invasion
- Elliptic says that there is “no evidence to suggest that crypto fundraising has raised anything close to this amount”
Blockchain firm Elliptic has disowned data used by the Wall Street Journal and Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying it was misconstrued to fit an anti-crypto narrative. The outlet used Elliptic data to make a case that terror group Hamas had raised millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies, information Warren used to send a letter to the White House and Treasury that urged the Biden administration to crack down on crypto. Elliptic maintained in a blog post that there is “no evidence to suggest that crypto fundraising has raised anything close to this amount” and that the data had been “misrepresented.”
Wall Street Journal Claimed $130 Million in Crypto Fundraising
In its October 10 article, “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto,” the Wall Street Journal claimed that “in the months leading up to their brutal and horrific October 7th attack on Israel, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) raised millions of dollars in crypto – evading US sanctions and funding their operations.” using data purportedly from Elliptic, the Journal claimed that “between August 2021 and this past June, the two groups raised over $130 million in crypto.”
Elizabeth Warren used this data in a letter to the Biden administration urging it to come down hard on the crypto sector, a move in keeping with her fervent anti-crypto sentiments to date.
Elliptic has claimed, however, that the Wall Street Journal misused the data it had presented, saying that “No public crypto fundraising campaign by a terrorist group has received significant levels of donations, relative to other funding sources.”
Elliptic Sets the Record Straight
In its rebuttal of the Wall Street Journal’s claims, Elliptic said that Hamas initiated its Bitcoin donation campaigns in 2019, experiencing peak donations during the May 2021 period of regional violence. However, in April 2023, the group ceased all public-facing cryptocurrency fundraising due to concerns about donor safety, given an increase in hostile actions against its supporters; US law enforcement had conducted operations to seize crypto wallets used for laundering donations, identify contributors, and shut down the fundraising website.
Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) also began seizing crypto wallets linked to Hamas in 2021 and collaborated with exchanges to freeze associated accounts. Elliptic noted that these acts highlight the limitations of cryptocurrency as a tool for terrorist financing, with the blockchain’s transparency allowing tracking of illicit funds and potential linkage to real-world identities.
Furthermore, cryptocurrency users often rely on centralized services like exchanges and stablecoins, which cooperate with law enforcement to freeze suspicious funds or take proactive measures based on insights from blockchain analysis.
Data “Simply Does not Support” Mass Fundraising Claims
Elliptic added that in July this year, the NBCTF issued a seizure order for crypto wallets linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist organization active in the Gaza Strip. Analysis of the wallets seized by the NBCTF shows that they received transactions totaling just over $93 million between 2020 and 2023. The company says that this does not imply that PIJ “raised” all of these funds or that they all belonged to PIJ, with the exact proportion directly attributable to PIJ or other terrorist groups remaining unknown; some of the wallets may have belonged to small service providers, such as brokers used by PIJ.
Elliptic reaffirmed that “the data simply does not support” the idea that terrorist groups are raising tens of millions of dollars through crypto, and that it has spoken to the outlet and Elizabeth Warren’s representatives over the issue.
