House democrats Josh Gottheimer and Emanuel Cleaver have reportedly asked the Trump administration to provide further details on the recent seizure of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets from three terrorist organizations, namely al-Qaeda, Hamas, and ISIS.
CryptoPotato recently reported that the US Department of Justice had seized over 300 virtual accounts containing an undisclosed amount of cryptocurrencies belonging to al-Qaeda, Hamas, and ISIS.
The three terrorist groups had previously employed various tactics, including false fundraising campaigns, advertisements, and sophisticated money-laundering networks, to acquire Bitcoin and other digital assets.
The IRS, the HSI, and the FBI managed to track numerous Bitcoin transactions from the blockchain and link them to known accounts operated by the three terrorist groups.
Earlier this week, reps Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Cleaver (D-Mo.) asked the Trump administration to reveal more details regarding the entire operation and the seizure of the cryptocurrencies.
“It is vital that Members of the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy receive a briefing, at the appropriate classification level, on this action, the largest ever seizure of online terrorist financing, from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury on this investigation,” the two wrote.
Cleaver is the chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy, while Gottheimer is a member of the Subcommittee.
Although the DOJ indeed claimed that this was “the largest seizure of cryptocurrency accounts operated by known terrorist groups,” the two house reps believe that such organizations strive to employ digital assets even more due to their anonymity.
Consequently, they have reportedly requested that the Treasury Department reveal its plans to confront similar operations or other malicious actors targeting the US financial networks:
“This will further inform the Subcommittee on what legislative actions we should be undertaking to provide regulators and law enforcement the proper resources and tools to continue to address the illicit use of cryptocurrency and disrupt terrorist organizations’ financial networks.”
By exploring the topic of cryptocurrency usage for illegal activities, one can conclude that they are indeed preferred by bad actors. However, more in-depth look and multiple other reports indicate that cash and fiat currencies are still the most utilized payment method from criminals.
