Sam Callahan Profile picture
Oct 21 2 tweets 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Last week, the @WSJ published an article claiming about $90 million worth of crypto was used to fund Hamas — a serious claim that gained significant attention.

In response to the article, anti-Bitcoin politicians directly linked the WSJ article as evidence in a letter to the White House and Treasury “to address the serious national security threats posed by crypto’s use to finance terrorism.”

Later, it was confirmed that the article was patently false. It was straight up fake news. This was confirmed by @chainalysis, which ran the numbers.

Turns out the authors of the article mistakenly counted an entire exchanges’s trading volume ($82 million) for a terrorist group’s address. Rookie move! The actual funds that went to known terrorist-linked addresses was substantially less.

“Of the roughly $82 million in cryptocurrency received by this address, about $450,000 worth of funds were transferred from the known terror-affiliated wallet. Given the activity of this address, the person or group of people controlling it is likely not the same person that controls the terror-affiliated wallet, but is rather a service provider that knowingly or unknowingly facilitated the terror financing activity.”

So the WSJ’s figure for crypto use in financing Hamas was off by over 99%!

My question is…where is your retraction article @WSJ? Where is the article describing why your reporters were blatantly wrong about this?

If you don’t retract it, politicians with an agenda will likely continue to use this fake news as evidence to attack an industry they have a personal vendetta against. Fix this please.
@WSJ You can find the original sources below.👇

Original Fake WSJ article:
Politicians' letter to the White House:
Chainalysis correction article: wsj.com/world/middle-e…
warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
chainalysis.com/blog/cryptocur…

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More from @samcallah

Jun 30
1. / The institutions are coming.

So let's take a trip down memory lane to see what these entities used to say about #Bitcoin, as retail investors ignored them and kept on accumulating.

"Good things might come to those who wait, not for those who wait too late." - Bill Withers
First up - BlackRock (~$9 trillion AUM)

In 2017, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called Bitcoin an "index of money laundering" and stated, “That’s all it is.”
cnbc.com/2017/10/13/bla…
Then, in June 2018, @NikoJilch interviewed Larry Fink in Austria, where Fink called Bitcoin a "fraud," and said that it's "going to zero" and "going to fail." (oof)
Read 23 tweets
Jun 19
The IMF recently presented a "new" blueprint for a cross-border CBDC system in a paper, but this isn't new.

It's the same CBDC system that the Bank of International Settlements has been designing since 2020.

One ledger. One rulebook. Controlled by unelected central bankers.🧵 Image
The IMF wants you to believe this is blueprint represents a new system and that this system was proposed in September. But this couldn't be further from the truth. Image
In fact, in the IMF paper itself, the authors admit that they are just expanding on the work of the Bank of International Settlements Innovation Hub. Image
Read 20 tweets
Apr 19
Binance has been raising eyebrows since 2017.

One aspect of Binance that drives me up a wall is its false marketing around its BNB Chain and BNB token.

They claim both are decentralized and that they don't have any control of it, but that's nothing more than a boldfaced lie. 🧵
Binance origins begin with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). ICOs are now synonymous with fraud as a majority of them have proven to be little more than pump-and-dump schemes and blatant scams.

However, CZ timed it right, and raised $15 million by launching his own token, BNB.
Like a lot of ICOs at that time, 40% of the tokens were allocated directly to the founding team themselves for further developments and marketing efforts.

$6,000,000 to the founding team. Just. Like. That. Image
Read 5 tweets
Feb 16
One benefit you'll often hear from Central Bank Digital Currency advocates is how CBDCs will promote financial inclusion.

It sure sounds good - but this couldn't be further from the truth.

CBDCs would create more barriers to financial inclusion, not less. Allow me to explain.🧵
Improving financial inclusion is cited as one of the main reasons why central banks worldwide are motivated to launch a retail CBDC.

This is especially true in Emerging Markets where this issue was deemed an "important" reason for issuing a CBDC.
This alleged CBDC benefit is heavily advertised because promoting financial inclusion is a noble cause that few would argue against.

If CBDC proponents can convince the public that a CBDC accomplishes this honorable goal, then more people will be open to the issuance of a CBDC.
Read 34 tweets
Feb 14
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing on the "Crypto Crash" is happening now.

banking.senate.gov/hearings/crypt…

Live updates 🧵
"While the crypto contagion didn't affect the broader financial system, thank God, we saw glimpses of the damage it could have done had crypto migrated into the banking system." - Senator Sherrod Brown
"Contrary to crypto evangelists' claims of democratizing finance, it's not the early adopters or big money investors left holding the bags. When it comes to crypto, it turns out fortune doesn't favor the brave, it favors wealthy insiders." - Senator Sherrod Brown
Read 9 tweets
Jan 19
I read through the Bitzlato FinCen Order and it's a pretty crazy read.

There could be more to this action than originally expected.

FinCen labels Bitzlato as a convertible virtual currency (CVC) exchanger with operations in Russia that provides Peer-to-Peer (P2P) services. 🧵
A CVC exchanger is a type of Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP).

It's jargon for a P2P exchange, but remember these acronyms.

This FinCen order is all about Russian ransomware groups like Conti using Bitzlato for illicit purposes and money laundering.
"The application of FinCEN’s authorities in this order is specific only to section 9714 of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act."

This isn't about applying the Bank Secrecy Act or implementing regulations. It's about Russian cybercrime.
Read 20 tweets

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