The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated three individuals and two charities it accuses of moving more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charity fronts and cryptocurrency channels. The action was reported by COINOTAG on October 4, 2026.

Among those designated is Saleem al-Zaq, whom Treasury describes as a battalion deputy in Hamas's armed wing. According to the report, the designations allege that the listed charities operated as fronts, with digital-asset channels used to transfer funds to the group.

Designations by OFAC generally block any property and interests in property of the named parties that are in the United States or within the possession or control of US persons, and they broadly prohibit US individuals and entities from transacting with them. Violations of US sanctions can carry civil or criminal penalties. Named parties — and any cryptocurrency addresses Treasury ties to them — are added to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, the same reference Treasury has previously used to publish wallet addresses linked to sanctioned fundraising networks, and one that banks, exchanges, and other financial firms screen against as part of sanctions compliance.

The United States has designated Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997, and US authorities have repeatedly identified charitable fronts as a fundraising method used by the group. Treasury has previously sanctioned individuals and cryptocurrency addresses tied to Hamas fundraising networks, and its agencies have warned that terrorist organizations continue to seek ways to move money through digital assets. The latest action targets a network Treasury alleges combined both methods, pairing charity fronts with digital-asset transfers.

Bitcoin (BTC), the asset cited in the reported transfers, operates on a public blockchain in which every transaction is recorded on a distributed ledger visible to anyone. That transparency has enabled investigators and blockchain-analytics firms to trace fund flows in past terrorist-financing cases, even as illicit actors attempt to obscure their trails through additional wallets and intermediaries. The same ledger visibility underpins address screening at exchanges and financial institutions, where incoming transactions can be cross-checked against addresses OFAC has published, and updates to the designation entries are posted on the SDN List and in the Federal Register.

This article is based on reporting first published by COINOTAG: US Treasury Sanctions Hamas Network That Moved $2 Million via Bitcoin (BTC)