Islamic State Is Increasingly Using Crypto to Fund Africa Militant Goals

Islamic State is increasingly using cryptocurrencies such as Tether to raise and move money around the world, including in Africa, according to a group of nations formed to combat financing for the militant group.

While IS still mostly relies on informal money services such as cash couriers, affiliates including in West Africa are making payments using virtual assets, the Counter ISIS Finance Group said in a fact sheet posted on the US Treasury’s website.

IS no longer holds the swathes of Syria and Iraq it controlled a decade ago, but offshoots, especially in Africa, continue to wage violent campaigns. The group has access to an estimated $10 million to $20 million in cash and other liquid assets, according to the fact sheet, though this is down from a peak of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The militants’ Somalia branch has been their primary revenue generator, earning about $6 million from extortion and local taxes.

The US last year reached $4.4 billion of settlement agreements with Binance Holdings Ltd., which operates the world’s biggest crypto exchange, for failing to take basic anti-money laundering steps to prevent the activities of terror organizations including IS.

Tether uses public blockchains that make it possible to track each transaction, the company said.

“With Tether, every action is online, every action is traceable, every asset can be seized and every criminal can be caught,” the operating company said in response to emailed questions. “We work with law enforcement to do exactly that.”

The US together with nations including Italy and Saudi Arabia make up the Counter ISIS Finance Group.

Source » finance.yahoo.com