US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on crypto exchange in Gaza.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on "financial intermediaries" suspected of supporting Hamas. One affected company: Buy Cash, a Gaza-based crypto exchange. Ahmed Alagad, the owner of the domain and exchange, is also blacklisted by OFAC.

In June 2021, a wallet from the exchange was frozen by Israel's National Counterterrorism Financing Bureau because it was reportedly linked to a Hamas fundraising campaign.

"Buy Cash was used to transfer money from branches to other terrorist groups," the Treasury Department said in a statement.

"Hamas often relies on small donations in dollars, including through the use of virtual currency," OFAC added. As Chainalysis data shows, Hamas has been relying on crypto for terror funding since 2019.

In addition to Buy Cash and its founder, six other individuals and two "senior Hamas officials" are affected by the sanctions.

Tron's blockchain is especially popular with terrorist organizations - criminals are said to be enthusiastic about cheap money transfers.