Despite what some may lead you to believe, “cryptocurrency is not the currency of choice for criminals,” said Perianne Boring, CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
Boring wrote back in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Monday against accusations made earlier this month by the same newspaper that the Palestinian terror group Hamas has “raised millions in cryptocurrency.”
According to Boring, groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah have raised money in a variety of ways, including using traditional banking services, hawala networks and state financing, while crypto is only “a small part of that.”
The CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce further said that law enforcement agencies are trained to track down actors using crypto for illegal purposes, noting that their work in doing so has become easier due to the transparent nature of blockchain networks.
“Although new technologies are often exploited by bad actors, they often serve as more valuable tools for law enforcement than for criminals. The blockchain makes hiding illegal funds through cryptocurrencies ineffective,” Boring said before concluding:
“The dossier must reflect that cryptocurrency is not the currency of choice for criminals.”