ISIS storing $300 million in Bitcoin. That was the claimed made by the director of the Counter Extremism Project claiming that ISIS had up to $300 million stored in bitcoin. Funds of equal value have been missing in a search conducted since 2017.
Hans-Jakob Schindler, who heads the terrorism-related think tank added that “This would be an ideal storage mechanism until it is needed. If done right, it would be unfindable and unseizable for most governments.” Major news media then took this opportunity to publish Schindler’s speculative allegations, even without hard evidence to back up his claims.
The sensationalised allegations received backlash by US company Chainalysis who expressed that “Schindler’s theory is also highly unlikely,” Chainalysis asserted. The company explained that if the terrorist organization “funneled oil proceeds into bitcoin, trading volume of regional exchanges and money service businesses would have reflected this flow of funds.”
It highlighted that cryptocurrency is not an ideal form of storing illicit money because of the transparency associated with the underlying blockchain technology. Cash and other traditional assets are better suited for this purpose, Chainalysis added.
