“ISIS allegedly funded the deadly bombings with Bitcoin donations, the UK based Mirror reported. Now a blockchain intelligence company called Whitestream has claimed ISIS used the CoinPayments platform to convert cryptocurrency into dollars shortly before the attacks.”
Hamas is also raising funds through Bitcoin. Earlier this month a fake news site complained that it was “time to silence all those people who were tarnishing the image of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin by claiming that they are being used to fund terrorist activities.” That is precisely what is happening. Jihadists utilize any and every means available in their quest for expansion. The Islamic State is worth nearly 3 billion according to a report last year, Boko Haram 70-million, while al Qaeda is raking in around 100 million a year. And while many Western agencies like Mastercard and Patreon crack down on those who call out the truth and make efforts to counter the spread of jihad terror, the worst enemies of democracy are proficient in acquiring funding and utilizing backdoor strategies.
Israeli intelligence has warned about Bitcoin that “unsupervised international money transfers make it ideal for use by terrorist groups.” Palestinians have been “planning to create a Bitcoin-style currency that would help the Palestinian economy operate independently of Israeli influence and it is no secret how the Palestinian Authority provides material support to jihad terrorists against Israel.
“ISIS ’funded SL Easter bombings with Bitcoin donations’”, Daily Mirror, May 2, 2019:
ISIS allegedly funded the deadly Sri Lanka Easter bombings with Bitcoin donations, the UK based Mirror reported.
Now a blockchain intelligence company called Whitestream has claimed ISIS used the CoinPayments platform to convert cryptocurrency into dollars shortly before the attacks.
The Israeli intelligence start up told ‘Globes’ that Bitcoin’s anonymity and unsupervised international money transfers make it ideal for use by terrorist groups.
Whitestream has since discovered there was a surge of transfers to Bitcoin wallets allegedly used by ISIS the day before the coordinated attacks which left hundreds of people dead.
Authorities suspect members of two previously little-known groups – National Thawheedh Jamaath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim – of carrying out the attacks, although Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
During an investigation, Whitestream discovered the Bitcoin balance held by CoinPayments increased by hundreds of percent on April 20.
The balance of the main wallet rose from £383,000 [$500,000] to £3.45 million [$4.5m] on April 20. On Easter Sunday, the balance reverted back to the original amount, which is what it had been at for the previous nine months.
Whitestream said: “In the past two years, ISIS has been running a mass funding campaign to raise donations in Bitcoin.
“The aim of the campaign is to contribute to the organisation’s technological division, which deals with the media, advertising and computer infrastructure sectors.
“The main efforts are carried out through a dedicated website. The domain address is frequently changed to prevent tracking by authorities around the world. “CoinPayments admits that their wallet was involved but denies that it is connected to ISIS. It’s possible that the company is not aware about the usage of their wallets, perhaps because ISIS uses straw companies in order to transfer the money.”….