On December 15, 2021, the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court ruled that the Israeli government can confiscate all funds in more than 150 cryptocurrency wallets that are said to have been used to finance terrorism.
Previously, Israeli officials were only permitted to seize digital assets with direct links to terrorism, but not other funds in the same wallets.
Following the court ruling, authorities took $750,000 from the wallets, and a further $33,500 from wallets associated with Hamas, a militant group that has been named a terrorist organization by multiple countries and international organizations.
In February 2022, 30 wallets from 12 exchange accounts related to Hamas were also seized, although the amount of assets confiscated was not revealed.
Even though some cryptocurrency has been used for fundraising by terrorist groups, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis found that only a small fraction of crypto funds are used for illegal activities.
