Terrorists are funding their horrible deeds with crypto: UN officials
Cash and hawala remain the “predominant methods of terror financing,” according to a UN official, however, "advanced" terror organizations are turning to cryptocurrencies. Terrorist groups who have been excluded from the “formal financial system” have turned to crypto to fund their heinous activities, according to Svetlana Martynova, the Countering Financing of Terrorism Coordinator at the United Nations (UN). The UN official made the comments during a speech at a “Special Meeting” run by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in New Delhi and Mumbai on Oct. 28-29 — which was focused....
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Crypto assets have found use cases across different sectors, increasing their mass adoption globally. From remittance payments to cross-border transactions, digital assets have ensured flexible settlements for those who embraced them. However, amid the rising global adoption, security personnel have discovered that criminals and terrorist organizations are using crypto to facilitate the funding of their […]
With only two weeks left in 2016, bitcoin seems in a rush to “catch up.” For the longest time, analysts have predicted that bitcoin would reach $800 by the end of the year, and for the last few days, it seems like that prediction could become a reality. Currently trading at around $787, bitcoin is just $13 away from reaching such a stellar point. But not everyone is celebrating. The U.S. government is still employing the idea that bitcoin is the most popular currency amongst criminals and terrorists, who likely use digital currency to fund their evil deeds. Bitcoin-related crime is....
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A former counterterrorism analyst for the CIA has found that terrorists are utilizing innovative technologies to boost their funding, one of which is through the use of bitcoin. Yaya Fanusie is the director of analysis for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF) who previously spent seven years as both an economic and counterterrorism analyst in the CIA. Writing on The Cipher Brief, he explained how he recently came across a troubling case of innovative terrorist fundraising. According to Fanusie, The Ibn Taymiyya Media Center (ITMC), which....