The United States is implementing new sanctions targeted at Hamas as it intends to cut off the group’s financing, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo announced yesterday.

It is also expanding its partnership with the British government, Adeyamo said in a speech before the Royal United Services Institute in London.

The Treasury Department has been cracking down on the international financial channels that allowed Hamas to fund its massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, The Washington Post reported, imposing sanctions on 10 Hamas members, operatives and others.

“We sanctioned a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange and its operator, which was used by multiple terrorist groups, including Hamas, to transfer funds,” said Adeyamo. “We also have taken steps to address systemic illicit finance risks posed by virtual currency mixing, a service that is often abused by illicit actors.” 

The Treasury sanctions last week included financial penalties on a digital currency exchange based in Gaza, Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, which provided bitcoin and other crypto services, the Post reported.

The Wall Street Journal, citing the crypto research firm Elliptic, reported that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah raised $93 million in crypto before the attack. The research was also cited by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a letter signed by more than 100 members of Congress that called for stricter regulations on crypto trading.

In his speech, Adeyamo announced three initiatives: stepping up the use of financial sanctions to degrade and disrupt Hamas’s financial network; working with partners and allies around the globe to increase information sharing and collaboration to tackle terrorist financing; and directly engaging with stakeholders, including financial institutions, to ensure that they are taking steps to prevent illicit financial flows to these organizations while continuing to permit legitimate humanitarian support.

“Overall, the United States has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hamas, Hizballah, and other Iran-aligned terrorist groups in the region,” he said. “And the work of the United States is bolstered by taking joint actions in Europe, including the asset freezes the United Kingdom and European Union have imposed on Hamas.”

“Beyond our coordination with governments, we are also focused on working closely with the private sector,” he said. “We are committed to engaging with financial institutions, digital asset firms, and others on steps they can take to prevent terrorists from being able to move money. We know the vast majority of these stakeholders want to help us root out terrorist financing and we look forward to continuing our partnership.”

He pointed out that “there are those in the digital asset space who wish to innovate without regard to consequences instead of doing so responsibly, including protecting against illicit financing.”