Hamas Used Crypto to Get Money From Iran

 

"In mid-2019, Israel's military used a precision strike on a narrow street to kill a Hamas commander whom it called Iran's money man in Gaza.

The commander ran an off-the-books system of remittances in which trusted agents shuttled physical cash and goods across borders to settle customers' balances. This so-called hawala network, as it is known in the Middle East, funneled tens of millions of dollars in financing from Iran to Hamas's military wing.

His replacement, a Palestinian businessman called Zuhair Shamlakh, changed strategy to evade the Israelis: He turned to digital currencies.

Shamlakh's money exchanges increasingly sent digital tokens to operators abroad to settle hawala balances, according to current and former Israeli law-enforcement officials and former U.S. officials. Crypto sent to the digital wallets controlled by the Hamas-affiliated money exchanges also could be swapped for cash at their offices in the Gaza Strip.

This pivot helped Hamas and affiliates such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad to receive large sums from Iran during the two years that preceded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the officials said. It was an attempt to use a new financial technology to lessen the risks of moving physical money and goods.

Since 2021, Israel's National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing has issued seven orders to seize crypto funds held by three of these Gazan exchanges.

Digital wallets identified by the NBCTF in two of these orders as being connected to the exchanges got $41 million in crypto, show research by Tel Aviv-based analytics and software firm BitOK. Wallets linked by the bureau in another order to PIJ got another $93 million.

Officials at the NBCTF said a significant portion of the funds received by the Gazan exchanges were for Hamas, citing Israeli intelligence that went beyond blockchain analysis. They said the PIJ crypto transactions also used the network of money-service businesses aiding Hamas and its affiliates.

Some of the exchanges identified by Israel look like typical storefront operations that offer international money transfers. Part of their businesses involved legitimate activity such as remittances to generate enough cash flow to obscure the Islamist groups' financing, the NBCTF officials said. They said, at times, as much as half the money going through the exchanges went to Hamas.

Hamas, Shamlakh and his businesses didn't respond to requests for comment.

Iran's mission to the United Nations didn't comment. Iranian government officials have characterized Western sanctions as illegal financial warfare and have said Iran has secret financing mechanisms designed to sidestep the sanctions and fund its regional allies.

Shamlakh, owner of the Al Mutahadun exchange, which was cited in five of the seizure orders, was Hamas's "main money changer" tasked with arranging the transfer of Iranian money, according to the Israeli defense ministry, which oversees the NBCTF.

The owner of another exchange, called Dubai Money, was a "key figure in Hamas's economic infrastructure for laundering and transferring capital" from abroad, the defense ministry has said.

After one 2020 order by the ministry to seize his company's assets, Shamlakh denied that Al Mutahadun received funds from Iran in a statement carried by Palestinian media, saying Israel's allegations were "pure lies and slander."

Initially, Hamas used crypto only to receive small-scale donations from supporters as part of a broader crowdfunding effort, which Israeli officials said likely has raised several million dollars.

Around 2020, crypto became a method of large-scale transfers between Iran and the group within the hawala networks, according to the current and former Israeli officials and ex-U.S. officials.

Since then, crypto has been "an essential part for their operational activity," one senior NBCTF official said.

Iran has long been Hamas's primary benefactor, with the U.S. putting regular funding from Tehran at roughly $100 million a year. Hamas also has earned income from a global investment portfolio, raised money through charitable organizations, and skimmed off funds from official foreign aid and tax revenues in Gaza.

The U.S. designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997, limiting the group's access to the international banking system. Israel's blockade of Gaza has made it hard for Hamas to obtain physical cash. Researchers say the group often has resorted to a network of tunnels to smuggle in bills. Israeli officials said in recent years most of Iran's financing of Hamas moved through the chain of hawala dealers and money-service providers that are spread across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.

Western intelligence and security officials say that Iran and its proxies often own or control exchange houses as critical nodes for financing their operations. "This is the silent way for them to get money into Gaza," said Tom Alexandrovich, director of the cyber-defense division at Israel's National Cyber Directorate, which has supported the NBCTF's crypto investigations.

Hamas's use of digital currencies has intensified scrutiny on the crypto industry.

While crypto transactions are visible on public blockchain ledgers, many foreign platforms that customers use to trade digital currencies have weak compliance controls or are designed to conceal their identities.

The Treasury Department last month designated foreign "mixer" crypto platforms, which enable users to exchange cryptocurrency with relative anonymity, as primary money-laundering hubs to combat their use by terrorist groups.

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Rory Jones and Omar Abdel-Baqui contributed to this article.

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New System Is More Sophisticated

The use of crypto by the Gaza money exchanges was more sophisticated than Hamas's earlier fundraising efforts in bitcoin.

Digital wallets connected to the companies moved funds overwhelmingly in the form of the stablecoin tether on a blockchain system called Tron, which has heightened user privacy.

To obscure the money trail, the exchanges often changed the wallet addresses they used each day, and sent funds through mixers, Israeli officials said.

They also received funds from Garantex, a large Russian crypto exchange under U.S. sanctions, and several Iranian exchanges, according to the ex-official and blockchain analytics research.

A Garantex spokeswoman said it adhered to international compliance standards on financial crime.

The Gazan exchange network remains active. In late September, another exchange-service company called AlKahira, which shares an address and phone numbers with Dubai Money, posted a Facebook ad for cash withdrawals and deposits via tether at its two branches in Gaza.

The National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing officials said AlKahira and Dubai Money were affiliated and linked to another money-changing house in Istanbul that the bureau targeted in a July order to seize $1 million in assets.

AlKahira didn't respond to requests for comment.

AlKahira periodically has alerted customers on its Facebook page that it was "paying out funds for the martyrs and wounded inside its branches." Its most recent such post was on Oct. 3, four days before the attack on Israel." [1]

Israeli intelligence is clearly not catching mice here.

1.  World News: Hamas Used Crypto to Get Money From Iran --- Pivot helped militants obtain significant funds ahead of Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Berwick, Angus; Talley, Ian.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Nov 2023: A.8.

Teksaso dydžio paklausa yra elektros tinklo ateitis

   „Teksase visko yra daugiau, įskaitant elektros suvartojimą, kuris auga istoriniais tempais, o tai yra ženklas, kas ateis didžiajai daliai JAV ir likusiam pasauliui.

 

     Didžiausio šalies elektros gamintojo ir vartotojo per pastarąjį dešimtmetį pardavimai išaugo penkis kartus greičiau, nei nacionalinis tempas, maždaug taip, kaip pridėjus Luizianą. Šią vasarą slegianti karščio banga sumušė 10 didžiausių Teksaso tinklo operatorių, kurie vieną karštą vakarą vos išvengė elektros energijos tiekimo nutraukimo, dėl paklausos rekordų.

 

     Teksasas yra ekstremalus pavyzdys, kuriame yra daug gyventojų, kuriems reikia daug oro kondicionavimo, tačiau jis taip pat yra tendencijų, didinančių elektros energijos suvartojimą šalies kišenėse, centre: gamybos perkėlimas, energijos ištroškusių duomenų centrų augimas ir postūmis į elektrifikaciją.

 

     Kai kurie analitikai teigė esantys susirūpinę, kad JAV tinklas nėra pasirengęs spartesniam pramonės šakų, norinčių prisijungti, augimui arba tam tikrose valstijose susikaupusiam naujos paklausos pobūdžiui. Nors tinkle yra vietos daugiau klientų, planavimas yra sudėtingas ir sistemai sunku įsisavinti, jei visi bando prisijungti toje pačioje vietoje ir tuo pačiu laiku.

 

     Teksasas yra viena iš nedaugelio valstijų, kuriose pastebimas dramatiškas paklausos pakilimas.

 

     Puslaidininkių gamybos augimas padėjo padidinti elektros suvartojimą Oregone. Tokiose valstijose kaip Virdžinija ir Ajova prideda daugiau didelio masto duomenų centrų. Naftos telkiniai Šiaurės Dakotoje ir Naujojoje Meksikoje jungiasi prie tinklo ir lemia didžiausią elektros energijos vartojimo augimą šalyje.

 

     Elektros energijos poreikis paprastai auga lėtai, augant ekonomikai ir gyventojų skaičiui, o jį panaikina efektyvumo padidėjimas. Nacionaliniu mastu per pastarąjį dešimtmetį pardavimai išaugo vos 5%. Remiantis vyriausybės duomenimis, Teksaso elektros paklausa per tą laikotarpį išaugo 25%.

 

     Nauji klientai, kurie pastaraisiais metais prisijungė prie Teksaso tinklo, yra „Tesla“ gigafactory už Ostino – suskystintų gamtinių dujų eksporto įmonė Įlankos pakrantėje, reklamuojama, kaip didžiausia pasaulyje pilnai elektrifikuota gamykla ir bitkoinų kasėjai.

 

     Teksasas patiria naują elektros tinklo paklausą, kurios nematė nuo šeštojo, šeštojo ir aštuntojo dešimtmečių, sakė perdavimo kūrėjo „Grid United“ generalinis direktorius Michaelas Skelly.

 

     „Ar dabar esame ant tokio momento slenksčio, kai elektrifikuojamas transportas, kai orai ekstremalesni? Skelly paklausė, pažymėdamas, kad Teksaso įmonės vykdo anglies dioksido surinkimo ir vandenilio projektus, kurie naudos tinklo energiją. „Ir mes darysime AI“, - sakė jis.

 

     Daugelis komunalinių paslaugų ir tinklo operatorių visoje JAV koreguoja paklausos prognozes.

 

     Ateinančiais metais dirbtinio intelekto skaičiavimo galia ir platesnis elektromobilių pritaikymas padidins paklausą. Be to, dėl praėjusių metų Infliacijos mažinimo akto paskatų daugiau gamybos persikelia į JAV.

 

     JAV taip pat daro istorinį perėjimą nuo įprastų anglimi ir gamtinėmis dujomis kūrenamų elektrinių prie švaresnių energijos formų, tokių, kaip vėjo ir saulės energija. Tinklo operatoriai visoje JAV perspėjo, kad elektros energijos gamybos pajėgumams sunku neatsilikti nuo paklausos ir kad dėl spragų gali atsirasti nuolatinių elektros energijos tiekimo nutraukimų karštu ar šaltu oru.

 

     Duomenų centrai yra vieni iš didžiausių naujų energijos vartotojų, o jų paklausa iki 2030 m. gali padvigubėti. Kai kurie nauji duomenų centrai, reikalaujantys jungties prie tinklo, yra net 500 megavatų, tiek, kiek reikia šimtų tūkstančių namų maitinimui, sakė Robas Chapmanas. , Elektros energijos tyrimų instituto energijos tiekimo ir klientų sprendimų vyresnysis viceprezidentas, iš pelno nesiekiančio tyrėjo.

 

     Virdžinijoje didžiausia valstijos komunalinė įmonė „Dominion Energy“ nuo 2019 m. sujungė 75 naujus duomenų centrus, kurių didžiąją dalį lėmė srautinio perdavimo ir darbo iš namų tendencijos. Remiantis vyriausybės duomenimis, elektros pardavimas visoje valstybėje per metus išaugo 7%. Bendrovė tikisi, kad elektros paklausa per ateinančius 15 metų padidės maždaug 85 proc., sakė atstovas Aaronas Ruby.

 

     Pasak Ramiojo vandenyno šiaurės vakarų komunalinių paslaugų konferencijos komiteto, prekybos asociacijos, Ramiojo vandenyno šiaurės vakarų dalyje elektros paklausa per ateinančius penkerius metus turėtų padidėti 20 %, daugiausia dėl pramonės augimo." [1]

1. Texas-Size Demand Is Power Grid's Future. Hiller, Jennifer.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Nov 2023: A.1.

Texas-Size Demand Is Power Grid's Future.

"Everything is bigger in Texas, including its electricity use, which is increasing at historic rates in a sign of what is to come for much of the U.S and for the rest of the world.

The country's largest electricity producer and user saw sales grow at five times the national rate for the past decade, roughly like adding Louisiana. A crushing heat wave this summer broke 10 peak demand records for the main Texas grid operator, which narrowly avoided blackouts one hot evening.

Texas is an extreme example with a big population that needs a lot of air conditioning, but it is also at the center of trends pushing electricity use higher in pockets of the country: the reshoring of manufacturing, the growth of power-hungry data centers and a push to electrification.

Some analysts said they are concerned the U.S. grid isn't ready for accelerated growth in industries that want to plug in or the concentrated nature of the new demand in certain states. While there is room for more customers on the grid, planning is complex, and it is hard for the system to absorb if everyone tries to connect at the same place and time.

Texas is among a handful of states seeing dramatic upswings in demand.

Growth in semiconductor manufacturing has helped push electricity use higher in Oregon. States like Virginia and Iowa are seeing the addition of more large-scale data centers. Oil fields in North Dakota and New Mexico are hooking up to the grid and driving some of the nation's biggest upswings in electricity use.

Electricity demand typically inches higher slowly with economic and population growth, canceled out by efficiency gains. Nationally, sales grew just 5% in the past decade. Texas electricity demand grew by 25% during that period, according to government data.

New customers that have connected to the Texas grid in recent years include the Tesla gigafactory outside of Austin, a liquefied natural gas export facility on the Gulf Coast touted as the world's largest all-electric plant and bitcoin miners.

Texas is experiencing new demand on the electric grid that hasn't been seen since the 1950s, '60s and '70s, said Michael Skelly, chief executive of transmission developer Grid United.

"Are we on the brink of such a moment now with electrification of transportation, with more extreme weather?" Skelly asked, noting that Texas companies are pursuing carbon capture and hydrogen projects that will tap grid power. "And we're going to do AI," he said.

Many utilities and grid operators across the U.S. are adjusting demand forecasts higher.

In the coming years, computing power for artificial intelligence and wider adoption of electric vehicles will add to the demand. In addition, more manufacturing is relocating to the U.S. because of incentives in last year's Inflation Reduction Act.

The U.S. is also making a historic transition from conventional power plants fueled by coal and natural gas to cleaner forms of energy such as wind and solar power. Grid operators across the U.S. have been warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, and that gaps could lead to rolling blackouts during hot or cold weather extremes.

Data centers are one of the biggest new power consumers, and demand from them could double by 2030. Some new data centers requesting grid connections are as large as 500 megawatts, as much as it takes to power hundreds of thousands of homes, said Rob Chapman, senior vice president of energy delivery and customer solutions at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit researcher.

In Virginia, the state's largest utility, Dominion Energy, has connected 75 new data centers since 2019, much of it fueled by streaming and work-from-home trends. Statewide electricity sales are up 7% year-to-date since then, according to government data. The utility expects electric demand to grow by about 85% over the next 15 years, spokesman Aaron Ruby said.

In the Pacific Northwest, electricity demand is expected to increase 20% in the next five years, much of it because of industrial growth, according to the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, a trade association." [1]

1. Texas-Size Demand Is Power Grid's Future. Hiller, Jennifer.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Nov 2023: A.1.