- The WSJ based its claim on data from blockchain sleuth Elliptic
- Chainalysis reported that just $450,000 was directed to wallets linked to terrorism
- US legislators wrote a letter to the White House referencing the WSJ's initial report
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) corrected its data within a recent report on cryptocurrency funding for the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad after Tether disputed it. Initially, the authoritative media source claimed crypto funding for the group stood at $93 million, which was collected from August 2021 to June 2023. It corrected the data to just $12 million.
Receipt of funds didn’t indicate direct allocation
The WSJ based its claim on data from blockchain sleuth Elliptic. The forensics company reported that crypto wallets affiliated with Islamic Jihad had received the above sum. Subsequently, Elliptic clarified that the receipt of these funds didn’t prove direct allocation to terrorist activities.
Chainalysis, another blockchain investigator, reported that just $450,000 was directed to wallet linked to terrorism.
Money was exchanged between IJ and Hezbollah
The WSJ corrected its data, pointing out that the actual amount of cryptocurrency exchanged between Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party, was only around $12 million, a far cry from the $93 million reported earlier.
Elliptic drew attention to the fact that crypto played a minor role in funding Hamas compared to other sources, which served to further cement the narrative’s revision.
Correction not good enough
Elliptic criticized the lack of detail within the WSJ’s corrections. This sentiment was echoed by Coinbase executive Paul Grewal, who commented that the revised report continued to imply cryptocurrency was the main source of funding for Hamas.
Broader implications
On October 17, US legislators wrote a letter to the White House referencing the WSJ’s initial report. In it, the WSJ had also claimed mainly Tether was being used to finance Hamas. Legislators such as Sen. Cynthia Lummis encouraged the Justice Department to speed up its investigation into the stablecoin.
The US government is cracking down on crypto. Earlier this month, Bankless Times wrote that it proposed stricter regulations on privacy mixers like Tornado Cash as a means of targeting Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and other terrorist groups.
