Hamas Receives Bitcoin Donations Through Coinbase and Binance

We had previously reported how sanctions had forced Hamas to beg for cryptocurrency donations. It seems, their prayers have been answered.

News has surfaced that Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group of Sunni Muslims, has received Bitcoin donations from prominent crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

Qassam Brigades, which is the military wing of Hamas, had posted two bitcoin addresses on their official website this Thursday. It seems that some generous benefactors have decided to help the rebel group out by sending them Bitcoin donations anonymously, on this addresses.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by USA, the European Union and Israel. This means that if citizens from any of these countries are caught trying to fund the group, they can be prosecuted by the state. In countries like Russia, China, and Turkey where Hamas is not regarded as a terrorist organization, citizens are free to send bitcoin donations.

According to reports, the first address received funds from a Coinbase wallet. In just two days, approximately $2,500 worth of bitcoins have been received by the group, who are understandably quite thrilled about it.

Whitestream, a blockchain analysis company that released the data, has said that according to their reports, around 0.75 BTC was sent to Hamas, records of which are on the blockchain. Whitestream is however unwilling to share its basis of deducing that BTC has been sent through Coinbase and Binance.

Other cryptocurrency exchanges that have also been used to send funds to Hamas are Bittrex and a Russian exchange called Vilkov. People have also sent it through coinMixer.io mixing service, thereby ensuring that the transaction leaves no trace.

This again tarnishes the positive image that Bitcoin has been trying to build for itself, about a legitimate form of payment that the society should be embracing. Bitcoins being used to fund terrorists makes it really difficult for most to back the cryptocurrency up.