A seizure warrant published by the US Department of Justice has surfaced internal guidance from Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, instructing crypto donors on how to move funds while avoiding detection. The document, which underpins the seizure of roughly $560,000 in cryptocurrency across operations conducted this year, cites a message dated February 10, 2025, and obtained by an FBI human source.
According to the filing, the message advised donors not to send funds directly from Binance. Instead, it recommended routing donations through Trust Wallet, RedotPay, OKX, Kast or Bybit, using USDT on the Tron network, known as TRC-20.
The DOJ document does not explain why Binance specifically was singled out for exclusion at the final transfer step, nor does it confirm whether donors actually used the five alternative services named in the message. None of the companies cited are accused of wrongdoing in connection with the case.
A history of shifting tactics
The al-Qassam Brigades has used cryptocurrency for fundraising since at least 2019, when it began collecting Bitcoin donations through its official website. That campaign continued for several years before the group suspended it in April 2023. A communiqué issued at the time framed the decision in terms of donor protection, stating: "Par souci pour la sécurité des donateurs et pour leur épargner tout préjudice."
The latest seizure warrant suggests that despite the 2023 suspension of the public Bitcoin campaign, fundraising activity through crypto channels has continued in less visible forms, now involving stablecoins and a wider set of wallets and exchanges.
Compliance history of the named platforms
Trust Wallet was acquired by Binance in 2018 and operated under its umbrella before becoming an independent entity five years later, in 2023. OKX, also named in the message, agreed in February 2025 to a $505 million settlement with US authorities over unlicensed money transmission activity in the country, a case unrelated to the Hamas seizure warrant.
The DOJ's latest action follows a broader pattern of enforcement against terrorism-linked crypto financing. In August 2020, the department announced the seizure of more than 300 accounts tied to terrorism financing campaigns, an operation that predates the current case but points to sustained scrutiny of crypto rails by US authorities.
For European regulators and exchanges operating under anti-money-laundering frameworks, the filing adds a fresh data point to an already active debate over how stablecoin transfers and multi-platform routing can be used to obscure the origin and destination of funds tied to designated terrorist organisations.
