Terrorists Getting Smarter At Using Crypto To Fund Activities

Terrorist groups like ISIL and Al-Qaeda have become more woke when it comes to using cryptocurrencies to fund terror activities, an official at the UN counter terrorism executive directorate (CTED) has said.

Svetlana Martynova, the Senior Legal Officer at the CTED, said that these blockchain-based assets are increasingly being used by terror groups to fund illicit activities, a report said Monday. The funds are raised via social media platforms and using digital assets which are untraceable.

It is crucial to note that organizations designed to combat terror financing, like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), have rolled out a set of guidelines that could be followed by governments and related agencies to decrease the usage of blockchain technology by groups like ISIL and Al-Qaeda.

According to Martynova, governments have not prioritized the reduction of risks that virtual asset technology in the hand of terror groups presents. Therefore, she advised that national governments, the private sector, and civil bodies need to come together to counter the usage of crypto by such groups.

As per a review conducted by the FATF in 2021, many countries have yet to introduce guidelines into their infrastructure to curb the illicit usage of cryptocurrencies. The FATF confirmed that of the total 128 countries, only 58 have implemented the required measures, while the rest have yet to take action on the same.

Due to their privacy-focused features, popular cryptocurrencies like ZCash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR) have come under the spotlight, and regulatory authorities have been discussing the possibility of imposing a ban on such blockchain-based tokens. These blockchain networks make it difficult to divulge information regarding the sender and the receiver crypto addresses.

Interestingly, the popular crypto mixer Tornado Cash came under fire from U.S. authorities due to its privacy-focused infrastructure and usage in illicit activities.