Bitcoin and terrorism

Bitcoin and terrorism

Terror groups’ crypto interest has also increased of late, perhaps tied to the boom. A recent report from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel detailed a drive on an ISIS-affiliated website for donations in bitcoin in December, and noted that the organization makes “extensive use” of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. A few days later, a Long Island woman was caught sending around $62,000 of bitcoin to fund terror.

ISIS’s crypto interest is not recent, though the group has traditionally relied more on less technological means, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In 2013, Ghost Security Group, a collective that tracks terrorist cryptocurrency wallets, noted that it had tracked ISIS accounts that had $3 million in bitcoin. Back then, a single bitcoin was worth around $330, giving that $3 million a value of over $136 million today. 

This doesn’t mean that ISIS still has these bitcoins and benefited from the boom, however. Roger Rice of Ghost Security Group declined to comment on specific tracking of wallets, but told Yahoo Finance that anyone who was currently holding funds during the bull market profited immensely from it, be they criminals, civilians, or nation-states.

“We have certainly seen an increase in general cryptocurrency discussion groups on the Telegram platform — not necessarily related to terrorism specifically,” he said. “Those who have benefited from the increase in valuation of their holdings have surely seen the light by now.”