Lawmakers seek inquiry into Hamas’s crypto fundraising efforts

A bipartisan group of Congress members are asking Biden Administration officials to inquire into the size, scope, and duration of Hamas’s crypto fundraising efforts.

“Open, transparent blockchain technology should easily provide an open book of Hamas’s terror financing with digital assets, as compared to traditional, more opaque, methods of financing. We request the White House and the Treasury to utilize the open blockchain ledger to assess the footprint of Hamas’s digital asset fundraising campaign. In doing this, Congress can better understand the United States’ available tools and capabilities to target bad actors on blockchain and support legitimate digital asset use and innovation,” Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) said.

Emmer, along with House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Digital Asset Subcommittee Chair French Hill (R-AR), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and some 50 other colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen with the request.

“It’s critical for Congress to understand the true extent of the use of digital assets for illicit purposes. In light of conflicting reports regarding Hamas’ fundraising efforts through digital assets, we are commencing a bipartisan fact-finding mission. It’s important to note that digital assets are built on transparent and open distributed ledger technology—making it far easier to detect and track illicit activity. It’s essential that we hold bad actors in the digital asset ecosystem accountable in order for legitimate players to thrive,” McHenry said.

With the letter, the lawmakers are asking the administration to launch a fact-finding mission to gather information that can inform congressional actions.

“Terrorism financing is unacceptable no matter what form it takes, whether that’s cash or crypto. Congress must better understand how groups like Hamas use digital assets to fund their operations and cut off all avenues for this illicit activity, but also recognize that bad actors are the problem—not crypto,” Hill said.