Emmer, Hill, colleagues start investigating digital asset financing of terrorism

Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR), and 56 of their colleagues raised concerns this week about Hamas and other terrorist organizations utilizing digital assets to finance their operations.

The lawmakers have begun an investigation into the size, scope, and duration of their digital asset fundraising campaign, and seek information from the Biden administration on blocked or forfeited digital assets from terrorist organizations.

“As Congress seeks to eliminate the pathways for terrorist financing to protect both our interests at home and abroad and those of our allies, we need greater context around Hamas’s operations,” wrote the lawmakers in a Nov. 15 letter to President Joe Biden and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “This is particularly critical given the conflicting reports we have on Hamas’s fundraising campaign from blockchain analytics firms.”

Reports indicate that Hamas-linked digital wallets received about $41 million and Palestinian Islamic Jihad-linked digital wallets received about $93 million between August 2021 and June 2023, according to their letter, but the lawmakers say it remains unclear how much, if any, of the publicly identified digital assets are accessible to or remains in the possession of Hamas.

“Open, transparent blockchain technology should easily provide an open book of Hamas’s terror financing with digital assets, as compared to traditional, more opaque, methods of financing,” Rep. Emmer said. “We request the White House and the Treasury to utilize the open blockchain ledger to assess the footprint of Hamas’s digital asset fundraising campaign. 

“In doing this,” added Rep. Emmer, “Congress can better understand the United States’ available tools and capabilities to target bad actors on blockchain and support legitimate digital asset use and innovation.”

Rep. Hill also explained that Congress must better understand how groups like Hamas use digital assets to fund their operations and then use that information to quash such illicit activity.

“Terrorism financing is unacceptable no matter what form it takes, whether that’s cash or crypto,” said Rep. Hill.

In their letter, the congressmen requested that Biden and Yellen answer several questions, including How many digital wallets linked to Hamas or the affiliated terrorist organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah has the United States been able to identify, and whether the United States has blocked or seized any of the digital assets in those digital wallets, among several other questions.

The members requested a response to their letter by Nov. 29 or that a classified briefing be scheduled in a timely manner.