Israeli police, with the help of crypto exchange Binance, have frozen multiple accounts with suspected links to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel Disrupts Hamas Crypto Fundings
The world has become more aware of the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East due to the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. Over the weekend, the Israeli defense minister ordered the complete siege of the Palestinian enclave Gaza after Hamas’ unprovoked surprise attack on Israeli territory.
On Tuesday, the Cyber Unit of Israel’s police announced its collaboration with the country’s defense ministry, intelligence agencies, and Binance in freezing several crypto accounts linked to Hamas.
The cryptocurrency exchange assisted the Israeli police in identifying and blocking the accounts in question. These accounts, as confirmed by the authorities statement, were created by Hamas and have been involved in fundraising via different social media platforms since Saturday. It’s pertinent to note that all the Hamas-affiliated funds seized are to be transferred to Israel’s national treasury.
Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and U.K., has been reaping generous bitcoin donations for some time now, using platforms like Binance to launder proceeds as it seeks to evade international sanctions.
An investigation in May revealed that from 2021, Israeli authorities had frozen around 190 crypto accounts on Binance with alleged ties to terrorist groups. A large chunk of these addresses belonged to Palestinian companies that had associations with the Hamas.
Could Bitcoin Crash In Shorter Term Due To Israel-Hamas Tensions?
Bitcoin has exhibited resilience in its price despite the escalating war and the notable implications the tensions in the Middle East have had on the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians. The price of the flagship crypto fluctuated marginally over the weekend as the attack evolved into an all-out war.
However, some traders expect further escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas to rock the markets, causing a short-term drawdown in risky assets like cryptocurrencies.
Immediately after the warfare between Russia and Ukraine started, Bitcoin plunged by over 7%. While the losses were swiftly erased, it’s probable that investors will anticipate the conflict-driven volatility to continue.
In the long term, market participants still envision the recovery of the Bitcoin price especially if BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are approved to launch in the United States.