Israel: seizure of millions of dollars in crypto linked to Iran IRGC, Hezbollah

Adam Lucente

Jun 27, 2023

Men hold a sign showing the face of Ahmed Mutawasilian, a fighter in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was kidnapped and killed in Lebanon in 1981, as they stand upon a podium showing a picture of a burning Israeli flag defaced with footprints during a rally marking Al-Quds Day (Jerusalem), a commemorative day held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan by an initiative started by late Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran on April — Men hold a sign showing the face of Ahmed Mutawasilian, a fighter in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was kidnapped and killed in Lebanon in 1981, as they stand upon a podium showing a picture of a burning Israeli flag defaced with footprints during a rally marking Al-Quds Day (Jerusalem) in Tehran. — AFP via Getty Images

Israel announced a major cryptocurrency seizure from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah on Tuesday, a potentially significant development in how states and armed groups use virtual assets.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday that Israel seized a few days ago millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from digital wallets used by the IRGC’s Quds Force and its Lebanese ally. Gallant issued the order to seize the relevant cryptocurrency wallets and turn the funds over to the Israeli government. Israel’s spy agency Mossad, Israeli military intelligence and Israeli police were involved in the operation, according to The Associated Press.

Gallant said at a conference held by the Defense Ministry's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing that the funds were being used for "terrorism" and the seizure constitutes the first of its kind for Israel.

"A few days ago, an extensive and precedent-setting operation — to expose a route for financing terror with digital currencies — was wrapped up. This is the first incident of this magnitude in which an infrastructure led by Hezbollah and the Iranian Quds Force that transferred millions of dollars to be used by terror elements was thwarted," he said, according to The Times of Israel.