France indicts five over $2M crypto funding

TLDR

French and U.S. authorities allege a France-based network raised over $2 million for Hamas and moved part of it using cryptocurrency.

1. French prosecutors opened a formal investigation into five people tied to two charities accused of diverting over $2 million in donations to Hamas, partly via crypto.
2. U.S. sanctions documents say most funds moved through traditional channels, while hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent in crypto, reportedly using TRON wallets.
3. The case shows regulators increasingly target charities and donors using crypto, tightening sanctions screening rules for exchanges, custodians, and other service providers.

Deep Dive

1. What The French Case Alleges

Reporting on the French investigation says five individuals were placed under formal investigation in Paris on 2 October 2026 over a network that allegedly diverted more than $2 million in donations to Hamas between 2020 and 2026. The same coverage links the case to two France-based charities and fundraisers accused of routing money to a Hamas military commander, with some flows later converted into crypto and sent to Gaza. The inquiry follows coordinated action with the U.S. Treasury, which sanctioned the charities Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux and individuals including fundraisers Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid over the same network.

2. How Much Was Actually In Crypto

U.S. Treasury and media summaries say the network raised over $2 million, including about $1.5 million after October 2023, but they do not claim the full amount was cryptocurrency. Instead, Treasury and independent reports state that hundreds of thousands of dollars were converted into crypto and sent to a Hamas commander in Gaza, with tens of thousands explicitly routed via TRON wallets. One detailed account notes that donations were initially collected using PayPal and Western Union, and only from late 2021 did the network start using bitcoin and other digital assets after a Hamas-linked commander requested them to hide donor identities.

3. Why This Matters For Crypto Users

OFAC designations covering the France-based charities and individuals require U.S. exchanges, custodians and payment processors to block any property they control that belongs to the named parties, including digital assets. Guidance highlighted that foreign financial institutions can face secondary sanctions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for the sanctioned network, and that additional wallet disclosures could widen screening obligations. For the broader market, this reinforces that regulators treat nonprofit and charity structures using crypto as high risk in a counterterrorism context, not just exchanges or mixers.

Conclusion

French indictments and U.S. sanctions over a France based Hamas fundraising network underline that crypto is increasingly embedded in broader terror financing cases, even when most money still flows through traditional rails. For crypto markets, the main impact is regulatory: stricter sanctions screening, closer scrutiny of charities and donation campaigns, and growing focus on specific networks used for cross border transfers, rather than an immediate systemic threat to crypto itself.