Congress passed a last-minute funding extension at the end of September which funded the government until November 17th. However, this bipartisan deal to keep the government open ended up throwing the House of Representatives into chaos for most of the month as Speaker McCarthy was ousted due to the deal. While that was going on, there was still some important hearings and letters from Congress in response to terrorist financing and the Hamas attacks on Israel.How
Hearings on Illicit Finance and Terrorism
Following the attacks on Israel from Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the region, both the House Financial Services National Security Subcommittee and the Senate Banking Committee held hearings to discuss how these terrorist groups are funded. As has been widely reported, these terror groups use crypto because they are locked out of the traditional banking system through sanctions and crypto allows them to evade the sanctions, solicit donations and move their funds. Of course, shortly after these reports came out the crypto industry went into action to downplay the reports and how much money was raised by these groups via crypto due to the transparency of the blockchain. Better Markets pushed back and shed light on these misleading claims, with a new fact sheet to debunk the myth of a transparent blockchain. Better Markets has also released a fact sheet on how criminals, sanctioned governments, and terrorist organizations use crypto to fund their acts of terror and evade international sanctions. You can read more about the truth on crypto here. Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown has vowed to continue to examine all their funding sources, including through crypto.
Bipartisan Coalition of Lawmakers Send Letter on Crypto and Terrorism
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Roger Marshall, Rep. Sean Casten and 100 other Members of Congress sent a letter to the White House and the Department of Treasury to raise their concerns and seek answers on how the Administration will crack down on crypto financing for terrorism. The letter highlights that in two years, between August 2021 and June 2023, terrorist organizations in Palestine were able to raise over $100 million through crypto financing, and that it remains a top tool for these organizations to raise and move funds. Better Markets will continue highlighting how crypto is used by terrorists and other bad actors to advance their agenda. We will continue to sound the alarm on these harmful activities.
