Are terrorists using cryptocurrencies?

Cryptocurrencies have a pretty bad reputation. For example, it is often said that bitcoin – which makes up just about half of the entire crypto market capitalisation – is mainly used by criminals on the dark web.

It’s certainly true that criminals are using cryptocurrencies, but it’s easy to find many other perfectly legal use cases as well. That’s actually not very different from any ‘normal’ currency. Cash is by far the most commonly used payment method for low-level criminal activities. Online transfers require more sophistication when it comes to money laundering but as frequent cases show, the problem has hardly been solved.

In the wake of the horrific attack by Hamas militants in Israel, the potential use of cryptocurrencies to finance terrorist attacks has come into the spotlight once again. Unfortunately, discussions around this topic are often based on opinions about crypto in general rather than on facts and figures.

Chainalysis, a reputable blockchain data platform, has therefore published a long blog post about the role of cryptocurrencies in terrorism financing. The post includes a lot of data which is put into a larger context. It is definitely worth a read for anybody interested in the subject of terrorism financing in particular or broader illicit activities in general.

The entire post can be found here.