$2M Hamas Fundraising Network Draws Treasury Scrutiny Over Crypto Use

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned several individuals and organizations it alleges were involved in a fundraising network that generated more than $2 million for Hamas between 2020 and 2026, with cryptocurrency accounting for hundreds of thousands of dollars in transfers.

The department said the operation ran for six years and involved a Hamas military-wing member, two France-based individuals and two charities. Treasury alleges the network combined purported humanitarian fundraising with cryptocurrency transactions to channel money to Hamas.

According to Treasury, Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid solicited funds in France for humanitarian purposes before transferring the proceeds to Hamas. The group has been designated as a terrorist organization in numerous jurisdictions and has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.

The network raised more than $2 million during the six-year period, including $1.5 million following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Treasury said. It alleged that Barika and Oualid transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, a Gaza-based deputy battalion commander in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. The department did not say that the full $2 million was moved through cryptocurrency.

The sanctions are the latest sign that U.S. authorities are investigating how digital assets fit into broader fundraising and payment networks. Treasury officials have previously said Hamas and other groups primarily depend on traditional financial systems, even as authorities have taken earlier enforcement actions involving cryptocurrency.

The move also follows reports last month that the Al-Qassam Brigades advised donors against sending cryptocurrency directly from Binance. Instead, donors were reportedly told to use other crypto services before transferring funds to a TRON wallet.

Under the sanctions, property and interests in property belonging to the designated parties that fall under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions with them. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions involving the designated parties could face secondary sanctions. The restrictions also apply to companies that are 50% or more owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more sanctioned parties.

“Terrorist organizations like Hamas rely on sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.