Computer Law Commons^™

Digital Currencies And The Financing Of Terrorism, William Hett

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Informal money transfers present a significant challenge to combating the financing of terrorist organizations worldwide. Although the U.S. and other governments have implemented measures to restrict terrorist financing, these measures were designed to regulate formal financial institutions. Accordingly, those seeking to avoid detection have turned to other methods of transferring money, such as commodities trades, hawala, and digital currencies. Many terrorist operations do not require large sums of money, making the detection and prevention of even modest transfers important. For example, the September 11 Commission estimated the cost of carrying out the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, which killed 224 people …