Terror groups are increasingly turning to cryptocurrency to fund their activities, according to a senior United Nations figure.
Svetlana Martynova, the countering financing of terrorism coordinator at the UN, said this was true of groups who have been excluded from the formal financial system.
The comments were made during a ‘special meeting’ run by the UN’s counter-terrorism committee in New Delhi and Mumbai focused on the use of ‘new and emerging technologies’ for terrorist purposes.
Martynova said cash and ‘hawala’ – a traditional system of transferring value, based on honour, without any money actually changing hands – remain the “predominant methods” of terror financing, but added: “We know terrorists adapt to the evolution of conditions around them and as technologies evolve they adapt as well.
“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.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said crypto technologies have an “unmatched potential to improve human conditions everywhere”.
However he added: “Terrorists and others posing hateful ideologies are abusing new and emerging technologies to spread disinformation, foment discord, recruit and radicalise, mobilise resources and execute attacks.”