DOJ Seizes $560K in Hamas Crypto, Shuts Down Al Qassam Websites
The Justice Department seized over $560,000 in cryptocurrency and shut down Hamas fundraising platforms, including the Al Qassam Brigades' main website.
FBI Captures Hamas Crypto Donations and Recruitment Infrastructure in Three-Phase Operation
The Justice Department has seized more than $560,000 in cryptocurrency destined for Hamas and dismantled the online fundraising and recruitment networks used by the designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, DOJ Justice News reported. The operation targeted the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, and included the capture of its primary website, AlQassam.ps.
Three cryptocurrency seizure warrants were executed on March 25, June 25, and October 10, 2025. According to court documents, investigators used information from multiple human sources to identify, trace, and seize approximately $560,000 in donations routed through rotating cryptocurrency addresses that Hamas supporters had been directed to via an encrypted group chat.
"These seizures deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on October 7, 2023," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "We will continue to tighten the vise on Hamas's capacity for terror by infiltrating its online networks, confiscating its cryptocurrency, and shutting down its websites."
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia addressed Hamas directly in her statement. "Your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated," Pirro said.
The FBI's Albuquerque Field Office led the seizure of domains and servers that controlled AlQassam.ps. Capturing that infrastructure allowed investigators to intercept cryptocurrency donations before they reached the organization. The office worked in coordination with the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, Cyber Division, and New York Field Office.
Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI's Cyber Division said Hamas had used cryptocurrency and online platforms to move money outside the formal financial system. "The FBI seized online infrastructure and $560,000 in cryptocurrency, capturing donations intended for the organization," Leatherman said.
Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office said the operation was also designed to erode donor confidence in Hamas's communication channels. "Reducing the capabilities of foreign terrorist organizations' ability to receive donations and creating distrust in communications to their donors was the primary focus of this latest operation," Garris said.
Using sources and methods developed during the seizures, the FBI also obtained data on thousands of individuals who contacted Hamas online to donate — via cryptocurrency or traditional means. The Justice Department said that information will inform future counterterrorism investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tejpal Chawla for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Jacques Singer-Emery of the National Security Division's National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case. Trial Attorney Robert MacDonald of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section and the October 7th Task Force is providing additional assistance.
Source: DOJ Justice News