Cryptocurrency is becoming a favorite method for terrorists to fund their activities and even to receive donations. But it also allows law enforcement to track their activities. On Sept. 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that federal investigators seized more than $560,000 in cryptocurrency donations allegedly destined for Hamas.
Hamas Loses Funding
The DOJ explained how the bust went down. A group chat claiming to be associated with Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, was found on an encrypted communications platform. The website sent supporters to a fundraising page, which provided donors with cryptocurrency addresses on a rotating basis.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro called the operation a “massive blow against foreign terrorism.” She said the funding was earmarked for the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades, and claimed the investigation provided names of thousands of individuals who tried to donate to the terrorist organization. “Such information will be used in the FBI’s future counterterrorism efforts,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
Additionally, the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office seized the domains and servers behind Al-Qassam Brigades’ main website: AlQassam.ps. This allowed agencies to intercept cryptocurrency donations meant for the terrorist group.
“These seizures deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on October 7, 2023,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.
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"My message to Hamas is clear,” Pirro posted in a video on X. “Your networks are not secure. Your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated once and for all.”
This wasn’t the first operation of its kind. In 2025, another encrypted group chat was discovered with at least 17 different cryptocurrency addresses that changed over time. According to the government, money sent to those addresses was moved into an operational wallet and then through a series of cryptocurrency exchanges and transactions involving suspected financiers and over-the-counter brokers. The Justice Department alleged that more than $1 million was raised and laundered through the system.
Then, in July 2025, the DOJ moved to seize about $2 million in cryptocurrency tied to BuyCash, a Gaza-based money-transfer business. Federal authorities alleged that BuyCash helped customers move and exchange money in ways that could hide where the funds came from and where they were going. Some of those transactions were connected to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
In 2020, the DOJ said the Al-Qassam Brigades allegedly told potential donors that Bitcoin donations would be untraceable and even gave instructions for making contributions anonymously. Investigators then traced 150 cryptocurrency accounts laundering funds to and from the group’s accounts.
Government agencies remain steadfast in limiting the ability of terrorist organizations to receive money. In the DOJ's Sept. 1 press release, Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office summarized the latest operation and its ongoing mission:
“Reducing the capabilities of foreign terrorist organizations’ ability to receive donations and creating distrust in communications to their donors was the primary focus of this latest operation. ... This continued success demonstrates the unwavering commitment and determination of the FBI in fighting terrorism. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to shut off the flow of funds to this group and protect the American people.”
Hamas may have found a modern way to collect donations, but the same technology is giving investigators a new way to follow the money, seize it, and potentially uncover the people behind it. What was designed as an international fundraising network instead became another source of information for federal counterterrorism investigators.
