The Wall Street Journal Corrects Misreporting of Hamas Crypto Terrorism Funding Data
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has partially corrected an article that falsely claimed that Hamas and other militant groups were funding their terrorist activities with cryptocurrencies.
October 10 “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attacks Raise Millions in Crypto” blockchain forensics firm Elliptic cited the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization operating in the Gaza Strip as raising up to $93 million between August 2021 and June 2023.
In the aforementioned report, Elliptic said Israel's counterterrorism unit seized wallets linked to PJ, which earned $93 million during that period. However, Elliptic has clarified that this does not mean that PIJ raised these funds to support its terrorist activities.
According to research by blockchain forensics firm Chinalysis, only $450,000 of these funds were sent to known terrorism-related wallets.
A WSJ correction says PJ and the Lebanese political party Hezbollah “may have exchanged” up to $12 million in cryptocurrency — less than the original $93 million.
“Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah may have exchanged up to $12 million in crypto since 2021, says crypto-researcher Elliptic. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that PIE had sent more than $12 million in crypto to Hezbollah since 2021,” the WSJ said.
The publication says it has updated other parts of the article to include “more context” about elliptical research.
The WSJ's retraction followed an Oct. 25 statement by the Elliptic asking the WSJ to correct a misinterpretation of the data. Elliptic added that the cryptocurrency flow through Hamas remains “miniscule” compared to other sources of funding.
On Oct. 27, Elliptical said it was pleased to see the WSJ admit its errors but would like to see more clarity about its corrections.
We are pleased to see that the Wall Street Journal has issued some corrections to their article based on our feedback. While we want them to move forward, we will continue to engage constructively.
— Elliptic (@elliptic) October 27, 2023
Related: Elizabeth Warren uses Hamas as her new scapegoat in war on crypto
Coinbase's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, also said that while the WSJ's opening paragraph is still being drafted, cryptocurrency was the main source of funding for Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.
2/ The WSJ Leader still states that funding for Hamas attacks hinges on “one answer: cryptocurrency.” There is no evidence of that, and the WSJ knows it. pic.twitter.com/BQK80b1jMd
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) October 27, 2023
“This is just a correction,” he added.
Nick Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, and other prominent figures in crypto are now asking US Senator Elizabeth Warren, more than 100 US lawmakers, to withdraw a related letter written to the White House on October 17.
The letter cited the WSJ's misrepresentation of information from Elliptic and tried to argue that cryptocurrencies pose a “national security threat” to the US and that Congress and the Biden administration should act quickly before cryptocurrencies fund another “tragedy.”
Liz Warren Broad? pic.twitter.com/e0Ew2TQzRb
— Nick Carter (@nic__carter) October 27, 2023
Magazine: US law enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crimes.
