FBI seizes $560K in crypto, identifies thousands of Hamas donors

The FBI said it seized about $560,000 in cryptocurrency and identified thousands of people who sent funds to groups tied to Hamas as part of an investigation that tracked digital donations and worked with cryptocurrency platforms.

Federal agents used blockchain analysis and traditional investigative techniques to trace transfers to wallets linked with Hamas-affiliated organizations and fundraising campaigns. The work included examining public transaction histories, obtaining records from cryptocurrency firms and executing court orders to freeze or transfer assets held by U.S.-based exchanges.

Investigators found a mix of small, repeated contributions and larger transfers. Many donors gave modest amounts routed through peer-to-peer transfers or intermediaries intended to obscure source and destination. The agency did not provide a breakdown of how much of the seized funds came from individual donors versus larger transfers.

The seizure removed roughly $560,000 in virtual currency from wallets controlled by accounts linked to the group. Findings were referred to prosecutors for potential criminal charges and to financial regulators for civil or administrative review. No information was released about arrests or the geographic distribution of donors.

The investigation involved cooperation with multiple crypto platforms to identify accounts, obtain customer identification information and, where legal authority allowed, freeze assets. The operation included coordination with international law enforcement in jurisdictions where some transactions originated or passed through.

The agency noted that public ledger analysis enabled investigators to link dozens of wallets to recipients tied to Hamas and that techniques such as mixers, chain-hopping between cryptocurrencies or privacy coins can slow but do not necessarily prevent tracing when exchange records and other leads are available.

The action is part of broader U.S. efforts to trace virtual-currency flows used in illegal finance, including funding to designated foreign terrorist organizations.