GM! Last week, Chainalysis claimed that Syrian rebels used cryptocurrency to finance its operations leading up to the toppling of the Assad regime.

We identified one of the addresses referenced in Chainalysis' report: it received a total of $807 USD.

Across the Telegram Group we identified, we found that participants had raised around $13,000 USD since November 27th via USDT – it may be arguable whether this amount contributed significantly to terrorist financing within the country.

But here's what's even more interesting:

Chainalysis claims that an OFAC sanctioned btc address shared mutual consolidation addresses with donation campaigns operating on Tron – a technical impossibility, leading us to believe that Chainalysis broadly simplified its depiction of events.

While Chainalysis' report claims to look at funding leading up to and following the events of December 8th, the identified OFAC sanctioned address last transacted in August 2021.

Why does this matter?

Chainalysis, as the primary Government contractor for blockchain surveillance, holds vast influence with both the Government and the public on the perception of btc.

Without regulatory oversight of the technologies Chainalysis uses and the methodologies it applies, the public has no opportunity to fact check whether what the contractor claims accurately reflects reality.

If we want to have an honest discussion on terrorist financing on bitcoin, blockchain surveillance firms need to be held to scientific standards and a minimum degree of transparency in their operations – otherwise, we run the risk of designing policy based on the claims of for-profit surveillance firms that can hardly be held accountable.

Updated story: https://www.therage.co/chainalysis-claims-cryptocurrency-funds-syrias-hts-2/