Chainalysis Claims Cryptocurrency Funds Syrian Rebels

• Chainalysis has released a report on the use of cryptocurrencies by Syria's Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham which overthrew the Assad regime on Dec 8th
• The report identifies four donation addresses sending funds to four donation campaigns as well as to an address owned by a sanctioned individual
• The report gives no information on the volume of transactions

The blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis has released a report on the use of cryptocurrencies by Syrias' Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an islamic opposition group credited with overthrowing the Assad regime on December 8th.

According to the report, Chainalysis has "tracked HTS fighters who have raised funds in cryptocurrency," identifying four donor addresses which had been transferring funds to donation campaigns as well as to one OFAC sanctioned individual associated with HTS.

Chainalysis claims that it has "observed multiple other militant al-Shami affiliates and pro-HTS social media channels soliciting crypto donations shortly before, during, and after the offensive leading to the regime’s collapse."

Chainalysis claims that its "review of militant HTS-affiliated social media crypto campaigns revealed an increase in donation activity after November 27," stating that "one campaign received its first donation in late October and received a total of seven donations prior to the 27th, since which time it has received over 30 donations. Another campaign, which only began soliciting donations after the offensive’s start, has also received over 30 donations."

Chainalysis further claims that it has observed "efforts by militant and pro-ISIS social media accounts to raise funds, including via crypto" in North-East Syria, where "legitimate humanitarian concerns mesh with extreme ideology and lack of accountability as to the ultimate destination of funds raised," presenting "analytic and ethical quandaries."

Chainalysis has not responded to a request for comment on its abilities to tell the difference between funds raised for humanitarian aid and funds raised to finance terrorism.

While Chainalysis' report details how many donations it has identified, it gives no information on the volume of transactions.

Chainalysis has not responded to a request for comment on how much money was transferred between the identified entities.

The Rage has identified the Donation Campaign calling to support the Mujahadeen referenced in Chainalysis' Report, finding that the listed donation address received a total of $807 USDT.

Across the group, starting November 27th, The Rage has identified shared donation addresses that have raised around $13,000 USD in total.

Notably, the Reactor overview shared in Chainalysis' report alleges that the OFAC sanctioned individual Farrukh Fayzimatov has been identified to have transacted Bitcoin with mutually shared consolidation addresses used by HTS affiliates transacting on the Tron network.

While Chainalysis has identified the mutually shared consolidation addresses as potentially belonging to an informal money service business, it is a technical impossibility to send Bitcoin to addresses operating on the Tron network, suggesting that Reactor's overview has been drastically simplified.

The OFAC listed Bitcoin address belonging to Fayzimatov has not sent or received funds since August 2021.

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This article was updated on Wednesday, Dec 18th at 11:30am ET to include the identified donation addresses and volume of funds transferred.