The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on a cryptocurrency operator allegedly linked to the terrorist group Hamas. The move comes after Hamas carried out an attack on Israel, resulting in multiple casualties. OFAC added a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange and its operator to its list of specially designated nationals. The exchange, called Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, is run by Khan Yunis, a resident of Gaza who is believed to have ties to Hamas. The owner of the business, Ahmed M.M. Alaqad, was also named in the sanctions. The Treasury Department aims to disrupt Hamas’s sources of revenue and prevent them from carrying out further acts of terror. The sanctions involve tracking, freezing, and seizing any Hamas-related assets. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that the money transfer company has been used by other terrorist groups, including an al-Qaeda affiliate and ISIS, with over $25 million in Bitcoin and Tether USDT passing through the firm since 2015. Israel has declared war on Hamas in response to the attack, leading to airstrikes on Gaza and a humanitarian crisis for its residents. U.S. President Joe Biden, who was in Israel at the time, reached an agreement with officials to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt. The U.S. Treasury frequently employs sanctions to weaken financial support for entities involved in terrorism or illicit activities. In a separate case, the Treasury recently announced sanctions on crypto wallets associated with Chinese chemical manufacturers involved in the production of the drug fentanyl.

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Information	Details
Geography	Middle East
Countries	🇮🇱 🇺🇸 🇪🇬
Sentiment	negative
Relevance Score	1
People	Janet Yelln, Joe Biden, Ahmed M.M. Alaqad
Companies	The text references the following organizations and institutions:1. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)2. United States Department of the Treasury3. Hamas4. Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company5. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic6. al-Qaeda7. ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)8. U.S. President Joe Biden9. U.S. Treasury10. Justice Department
Currencies	Bitcoin, Tether
Securities	None