Research: Bitcoin used by ISIS to fund Sri Lanka Easter Bombings. CoinPayments, Binance, BitFinex being used by terrorists

According to Israel Blockchain analysis firm, Whitestream, Bitcoin was used by ISIS to fund the Sri Lanka Easter Bombings which resulted in the killing of 250+ people.

Canadian based payment gateway, CoinPayments, were used to convert from Bitcoin to Fiat, reveals the agency. Large scale transaction took place between the Bitcoin accounts ISIS holds and the Bitcoin accounts controlled by CoinPayments.

“We found that on the day before the bombings, there was a sharp rise of hundreds of percent in the bitcoin balance held by CoinPayments, a company through which donations to ISIS are changed into bitcoin from regular currency. On April 20, the day before the Easter attacks, the balance in the main wallet of CoinPayments rose from just $500,000 to $4.5 million.”, says Whitestream speaking to Globes.

Coinpayments did admit their wallets were involved but deny their connection with ISIS. According to Whitestream,

“It’s possible that the company is not aware of the usage of their wallets, perhaps because ISIS uses straw companies [to] transfer the money.”

Terrorist Funding donation through Bitcoin

Earlier this week, ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was seen for the first time in five years in which he briefs the terror organization’s activists. According to Whitestream, ISIS is doing mass funding campaign to raise donations in bitcoin. The main efforts are carried out through a dedicated website. The domain address is frequently changed to prevent tracking by authorities around the world.

According to Whitestream, Hamas too converts their Bitcoin donations through Coinpayments. In the latest report by Whitestream, they mention that Hamas is moving Bitcoin through Binance and withdrawing them through BitFinex.

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