Tron TRX/USD has emerged as the crypto network of choice among groups that Israel and the U.S. designate as terror organizations, according to Reuters, citing financial crime experts and blockchain investigations.
What Happened: In 2021, Bitcoin BTC/USD was considered the preferred platform for crypto transfers by militant groups such as Hamas to Hezbollah. No more.
New York-based blockchain analysis firm Merkle Science CEO Mriganka Pattnaik said, “Earlier it was Bitcoin and now our data shows that these terrorist organizations tend to increasingly favor Tron.”
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Tron is believed to have faster transaction times, low fees, and stability.
As Israel ramps up scrutiny of Hamas' financing, Tron spokesperson Hayward Wong said that Tron does not have any control over who uses its technologies and is linked to any Israel-identified groups.
Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) is responsible for freezing 143 Tron wallets between July 2021 and October 2023 — including 56 Tron wallets linked to Hamas.
About 46 of the wallets from March 2022 were believed to be connected to a single Gaza-based money exchange company called Dubai Co. For Exchange.
Around 87 (two-thirds) of Israel's Tron seizures had occurred in 2023. Of them, 39 wallets were owned by Lebanon's Hezbollah, and 26 it said in July belonged to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally that joined the assault on Israel from Gaza.
A few weeks after the Hamas assault, Israel revealed the biggest-ever seizure of crypto accounts with around 600 accounts connected to Dubai Co.
In 2021 its first year of seizures, NBCTF had frozen 30 Bitcoin wallets after which no Bitcoin wallets appeared in notices.
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