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Reuters
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In spite of its territorial losses, IS used cryptocurrencies to raise funds
” These actions represent the federal governments largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency in the terrorism context,” the department said.
The US federal government says it has warded off efforts by militant groups to raise funds using digital currency, or cryptocurrency.
The campaigns involved Hamas military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS).
United States authorities stated about $2m (₤ 1.5 m) in cryptocurrency had actually been recovered.
Numerous cryptocurrency accounts, 4 websites and four Facebook accounts were also seized, the justice department announced in a statement.
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How did the groups get payments?
The al-Qassam Brigades utilized social networks and its main websites to get bitcoin contributions according to the justice department.
It said government agents seized control of one website to redirect payments away from the group, which is the armed wing of the Palestinian militant Islamist organisation Hamas. Search warrants have actually been issued against people based in the US who contributed.
Al-Qaeda militants based in Syria, on the other hand, sought donations to buy weapons by means of the messaging app Telegram.
The justice department stated IS had actually utilized a site and Facebook pages to sell fake Covid-19 individual protective equipment to collect funds.
” Nothing was concealed,” an unnamed US authorities told Reuters news firm, including that the militant groups “thought they were safeguarded” by file encryption in the apps they utilized.
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Media captionBitcoin explained: How do crypto-currencies work?
