How popular cryptocurrency tools have become an effective means of warfare.
Israel faces a new threat in its fight against the financing of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are backed by Iran. As it became known, the fast-growing Tron cryptocurrency network plays a key role in this. The service is faster and cheaper than its biggest competitor, Bitcoin, and has already overtaken it as a platform for cryptocurrency transfers linked to groups that Israel, the United States and other countries classify as terrorist.
According to a recent analysis published by Reuters and interviews with seven experts in the field of financial crimes and blockchain research , there has been a sharp increase in Tron wallet withdrawals by Israeli security services since 2021, while the number of Bitcoin wallet withdrawals has declined.
According to Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of Merkle Science, a New York-based company specializing in blockchain analysis, terrorist organizations are increasingly favoring Tron because of the speed of transactions, low fees, and stability.
Israel's National Bureau for Combating Terrorist Financing (NBCTF) froze 143 Tron wallets from July 2021 to October 2023, which experts believe were linked to a "terrorist organization" or were used for "serious terrorist crimes."
A representative of the Tron platform registered in the British Virgin Islands, Hayward Wong, noted that any technology can theoretically be used for dubious purposes, citing the example of using US dollars for money laundering. Wong stressed that Tron does not control the use of its technologies and has no connection with groups identified by Israel as terrorist.
Experts claim that it was the increased ability of law enforcement agencies to track transactions in Bitcoin that led to the rapid transition of such illegal associations to Tron. According to Shlomit Wagman, former director of the Israeli Anti-Money Laundering Service, Tron is a real "blind spot" in the fight against terrorist financing.
At the same time, Tron has become the dominant blockchain platform for transactions with Tether, the largest "stablecoin" backed by reserves and aiming for a 1:1 ratio with the dollar. However, Tether representatives said that they actively cooperate with law enforcement agencies, regularly monitoring and freezing tokens used for questionable purposes.
It is still unclear whether global regulators will be able to develop effective measures to control the use of Tron and similar cryptocurrencies. But it is already clear that this method of exchanging money may become even more popular for illegal purposes than the ubiquitous bitcoin.
This investigation highlights the complexities of combating terrorist financing in the age of cryptocurrencies and raises questions about the role and responsibility of technology platforms in this process.
Israel faces a new threat in its fight against the financing of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are backed by Iran. As it became known, the fast-growing Tron cryptocurrency network plays a key role in this. The service is faster and cheaper than its biggest competitor, Bitcoin, and has already overtaken it as a platform for cryptocurrency transfers linked to groups that Israel, the United States and other countries classify as terrorist.
According to a recent analysis published by Reuters and interviews with seven experts in the field of financial crimes and blockchain research , there has been a sharp increase in Tron wallet withdrawals by Israeli security services since 2021, while the number of Bitcoin wallet withdrawals has declined.
According to Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of Merkle Science, a New York-based company specializing in blockchain analysis, terrorist organizations are increasingly favoring Tron because of the speed of transactions, low fees, and stability.
Israel's National Bureau for Combating Terrorist Financing (NBCTF) froze 143 Tron wallets from July 2021 to October 2023, which experts believe were linked to a "terrorist organization" or were used for "serious terrorist crimes."
A representative of the Tron platform registered in the British Virgin Islands, Hayward Wong, noted that any technology can theoretically be used for dubious purposes, citing the example of using US dollars for money laundering. Wong stressed that Tron does not control the use of its technologies and has no connection with groups identified by Israel as terrorist.
Experts claim that it was the increased ability of law enforcement agencies to track transactions in Bitcoin that led to the rapid transition of such illegal associations to Tron. According to Shlomit Wagman, former director of the Israeli Anti-Money Laundering Service, Tron is a real "blind spot" in the fight against terrorist financing.
At the same time, Tron has become the dominant blockchain platform for transactions with Tether, the largest "stablecoin" backed by reserves and aiming for a 1:1 ratio with the dollar. However, Tether representatives said that they actively cooperate with law enforcement agencies, regularly monitoring and freezing tokens used for questionable purposes.
It is still unclear whether global regulators will be able to develop effective measures to control the use of Tron and similar cryptocurrencies. But it is already clear that this method of exchanging money may become even more popular for illegal purposes than the ubiquitous bitcoin.
This investigation highlights the complexities of combating terrorist financing in the age of cryptocurrencies and raises questions about the role and responsibility of technology platforms in this process.
