Bipartisan Anti-Crypto Terror Financing Bill Heads to U.S. Senate
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, led by Mitt Romney, introduced the "Terrorist Financing Prevention Act of 2023" to expand sanctions on entities supporting U.S.-designated terrorist groups, including through crypto transactions. The bill aims to prevent foreign terrorist organizations and their financial enablers, including those using digital assets, from accessing U.S. financial institutions. It broadens current sanctions to include all U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations and their supporting entities. The use of crypto for terror financing has raised concerns, but there is conflicting evidence on the extent of its use. Blockchain analytics firms suggest claims of significant crypto donations to Hamas are likely overstated. Binance has frozen accounts linked to Hamas at the request of Israeli law enforcement. Hamas and Hezbollah increasingly use the Tron blockchain, but seizures have been limited.
