UN Officials: Terrorists Use Crypto To Fund Their Heinous Crimes

UN’s coordinator for countering terrorism financing, Svetlana Martynova, claims that terrorist organizations that have been shut out of the “formal financial system” have turned to cryptocurrency to finance their terrible crimes (UN).

iexclusivenews reports that the UN representative made the remarks in a speech at a “Special Meeting” held by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on October 28 and 29 in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The meeting’s main objective was to combat the use of “new and emerging technologies” by terrorists.

Cash and “hawala,” a traditional method of money transfer in South Asia and the Middle East, have historically been the “predominant methods” of financing terrorism, according to Martynova.

However, she added, “we know terrorists adapt to the evolution of conditions around them and as technologies evolve they do as well.”

These technologies, according to Martynova, include cryptocurrency, which has been employed to “create the potential for abuse,” she added.

“If they’re excluded from the formal financial system and they want to purchase or invest in something with anonymity, and they’re advanced for that, they’re likely to abuse cryptocurrencies.”

[the_ad id=”41664″]

According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while developing technologies have an “unrivaled potential to enhance human conditions worldwide,” the harm done extends far beyond terror financing:

“Terrorists and others posing hateful ideologies are abusing new and emerging technologies to spread disinformation, foment discord, recruit and radicalize, mobilize resources and execute attacks.”

Martynova stated that the primary obstacle for the UN in dealing with the issue on an international level is getting nation-states to agree to its regulation.

“We have very clear global standards from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the resolutions of UNSC,” she said.

[the_ad id=”41670″]

However, Martynova added that very few countries have started the work on regulation, and even less so are “successfully enforcing that regulation” to deter ill-intended non-state actors.

Some efforts are being made at the state level, with the United States Department of Treasury. For example, suspending cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash due to money laundering and cybercrime concerns.

However, iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that several blockchain-based forensic organizations, such as Chainalysis and Elliptic. Have also emerged in recent years to track down fraudsters and report their actions to governments. Helping to dispel the misconception that bitcoin is a haven for criminals.