Svetlana Martynova, the UN’s coordinator for countering terrorism financing, claims that terrorist organizations have turned to crypto to finance their activities as opposed to former methods which were Cash and hawala.
The UN representative made the remarks in a speech at a “Special Meeting” held by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on October 28 and 29 in New Delhi and Mumbai. The meeting’s main objective was to battle the exploitation of “new and emerging technologies” by terrorists.
Cash and “hawala,” a traditional method of money transfer in South Asia and the Middle East, have historically been the “predominant methods” of financing terrorism, according to Martynova. However, she added, “we know terrorists adapt to the evolution of conditions around them, and as technologies evolve they do as well.”
These technologies, according to Martynova, include crypto, which has been employed to “create a potential for abuse,” she added.
“If they’re excluded from the formal financial system and they want to purchase or invest in something with anonymity, and they’re advanced for that, they’re likely to abuse cryptocurrencies.”
While new technologies have “unmatched potential to enhance human situations everywhere,” according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the harm they cause also goes well beyond supporting terrorism.
“Terrorists and others posing hateful ideologies are abusing new and emerging technologies to spread disinformation, foment discord, recruit and radicalize, mobilize resources and execute attacks.”
Regarding how the UN intends to address the problem on a global scale, Martynova stated that the primary obstacle is persuading nation-states to accept its regulation.
“We have very clear global standards from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the resolutions of UNSC,” she said.
To dissuade malicious non-state actors, Martynova noted that very few nations have begun the work on regulation and even fewer are “effectively enforcing that regulation.”
State-level initiatives exist, and the US Department of the Treasury recently sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash due to concerns about money laundering and cybercrime.
In recent years, a number of blockchain-based forensic companies, such as Chainalysis and Elliptic, have emerged to find hackers and report their actions to governments, dispelling the misconception that cryptocurrencies are a safe refuge for criminals.
