During my #BitcoinReads today, I ran into some interesting information. Apparently ISIS, the terror group behind the recent Paris attacks has been using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their money laundering activities, amassing an estimated Bitcoin wallet of $3million (which amounts to approximately 9,000 Bitcoins).
The claim was made by Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of the Financial Crimes. Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department during an anti money laundering conference. She did however say that using Bitcoin or similar currencies was not necessarily more of a security risk than other, more traditional money laundering routes.
I found that interesting because earlier this week, the hacker group Anonymous declared an all out war on ISIS. At the time, my thought was about that they’d go after ISIS affiliated social media accounts and propaganda networks. However, if they can manage to steal $3m worth of Bitcoin that could be significant. The Mt. Vox incident sometime last year shows that Bitcoin might be hard to mine or counterfeit, but it’s certainly easier to steal.
Let’s see how this goes.
BTC Current Price: $336
