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US Treasury Probes $165M Crypto Transactions Linked to Hamas Support: Report

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According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the U.S. Treasury Department is investigating $165 million worth of cryptocurrency transactions that might have supported Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo signed a letter revealing these findings based on examining suspicious activity reports submitted between January 2020 and October 2023.

Treasury Deputy Pushes for Legislation

Adeyemo’s letter, addressed to the leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees, urged support for legislation to expand the Treasury Department’s oversight authority over crypto transactions.

It noted that the $165 million figure might not solely be attributed to crypto or Hamas, as financial institutions may have reported the total value of a customer’s transactions, including both traditional and digital assets, as being linked to Hamas, even if only a fraction of the reported activity was connected to the group.

Adeyemo expressed concerns that terrorist groups like Hamas might increasingly turn to cryptocurrencies for financing as traditional financial access is cut off. However, he acknowledged that the Treasury Department assesses Hamas and other terrorists’ preference for traditional financial products and services.

Over 200 Addresses Suspected of Involvement

According to the investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), it has been identified that more than 200 cryptocurrency addresses could be linked to these transactions. The Treasury Department is currently engaged in an ongoing evaluation of the potential risks associated with cryptocurrencies and such services.

The focus of the Treasury Department’s investigation was on transactions registered with U.S. institutions that might have supported Hamas before its October 7 attack against Israel. FinCEN’s letter suggests that the reported use of cryptocurrency by the militant group may be exaggerated, though the precise amount remains unknown.

U.S. lawmakers have long been discussing crypto’s role in terrorist financing to sanction Hamas. Previously, a group of lawmakers led by House leaders requested President Joe Biden for more data on Hamas’s use of crypto through a letter.

It raised serious concerns about Hamas’s ability to use digital assets to finance its operations, citing reports indicating that about $41 million and about $93 million were linked to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad between August 2021 and June 2023. However, it remains unclear how much of the identified digital assets are accessible to or remain in the possession of Hamas.

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Ethereum Price Analysis: Is ETH Staging a Push Toward $2.8K or Facing a Crash to $2K?

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After breaking below the ascending flag pattern, Ethereum has retraced to retest the broken trendline. Should the selling at this level pressure intensify, a deeper decline toward the $2K support zone may follow.

By Shayan

The Daily Chart

ETH recently broke down from its ascending flag pattern, triggering a corrective phase. After finding strong support around the $2.1K level, the cryptocurrency bounced and retraced toward the broken trendline at $2.4K, where it now appears to be encountering resistance.

Despite the rebound, the lack of significant volatility and waning momentum around this key level suggests that buyers are exhausted. If the selling pressure intensifies here, ETH is likely to complete its pullback and extend its correction.

In this case, the $2K mark is emerging as the next key defensive zone where the bulls may attempt to regain control.

eth_price_chart_2706251
Source: TradingView

The 4-Hour Chart

Zooming into the 4-hour timeframe, ETH initially found strong support within the 0.5–0.618 Fibonacci retracement zone, a historically reliable level during corrections.

The sharp reaction from this range led to a quick move upward. However, the rally has now stalled precisely at the previous flag’s lower boundary, which currently acts as resistance near $2.4K.

This rejection increases the probability of another downward leg, unless the buyers are able to swiftly reclaim control. The $2.1K zone, which overlaps with the Fib support, remains a key battleground.

As long as this area holds, the market structure retains a bullish bias. If breached, however, it may pave the way for a deeper decline toward $2,000.

eth_price_chart_2706252
Source: TradingView

By Shayan

The funding rate metric serves as a crucial gauge of trader sentiment within the futures market. Typically, in a healthy and sustainable uptrend, funding rates increase steadily, reflecting growing interest from long position traders across both the perpetual futures and spot markets.

However, recent trends reveal a decline in Ethereum’s funding rates, signalling waning bullish momentum and potential buyer fatigue. This shift raises the probability of a short-term rejection and deeper corrective movement.

That said, as funding rates approach the neutral zone near zero, it may suggest a reset in leveraged positions, indicating that the market is cooling off. This environment often precedes renewed demand and could pave the way for a strong bullish continuation once the current consolidation phase concludes.

eth_funding_rates_chart_2706251
Source: CryptoQuant
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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Cryptocurrency

XRP Surpasses BTC, ETH in This Surprising Metric Despite SEC Lawsuit Roadblock

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TL:DR

  • Ripple’s lawsuit resolution against the US SEC will have to wait even longer as Judge Torres denied the two parties’ joint motion for an indicative ruling.
  • However, this seemingly negative development has turned the community bullish on XRP, according to data from Santiment.

As the analytics company informed, the bullish vs. bearish posts on social media in regards to the fourth-largest cryptocurrency have skyrocketed to a 17-day high.

Consequently, XRP has surpassed the two biggest digital assets by market cap, bitcoin and ether, both of which are performing a lot better in terms of price actions in the past week or so.

BTC managed to reclaim the $100,000 line after its brief hiatus below it and now sits at around $107,000 as the geopolitical environment in the Middle East improved. ETH also recovered from its substantial slump and is back to $2,400.

In contrast, XRP’s price has been trading downward for weeks and is currently below $2.1 after another 3-4% daily drop. The latest setback took place yesterday following Judge Torres’s decision to deny the joint motion filed by Ripple and the SEC for a quicker resolution in their lawsuit.

Nevertheless, it’s not all doom and gloom as the XRP token saw a major adoption announcement earlier this week, as you can check here.

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Is Ethereum (ETH) Seriously Undervalued Right Now? Many Whales Bet On It

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Ethereum (ETH) began climbing again this week, along with the rest of the market. However, it remains trapped under the $2,879 level for now.

Even as it struggles to spearhead the much-anticipated “altseason,” its network activity is telling a louder story.

Historic Activity on Ethereum

On June 25, Ethereum recorded 1,750,940 confirmed transactions. This was the third-highest daily count in its history and breaking a months-long downward trend in on-chain activity.

The “Ethereum: Transaction Count (Total)” metric captures all confirmed network transactions, including ETH transfers, DeFi operations, smart contract executions, and DApp interactions, and gives a clear insight into real usage. Such high activity levels have not been seen since January 14, 2024, when the cryptocurrency set its all-time high record with 1,961,144 transactions before usage gradually declined.

The latest spike comes even as ETH’s price has shown volatility, ranging between and $2,111-$2,879 over the past month, as traders, DeFi protocols, and arbitrage bots actively adjust positions in real time. This divergence between price weakness and strong on-chain activity suggests a potential early signal of accumulation and renewed DeFi interest, even if it is not yet reflected in ETH’s market valuation.

Meanwhile, institutional and retail interest seems to be steady, with stable ETH holdings on exchanges and rising transaction volumes on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, which continue to handle a significant share of Ethereum’s daily settlement activity.

CryptoQuant said that these developments point to deeper structural resilience in the network’s usage patterns.

“These developments reinforce Ethereum’s pivotal role in the broader crypto ecosystem and suggest that the network’s recent on-chain spike is not an isolated event, but part of a deeper structural recovery.”

Amid these signals of underlying strength, whale activity has emerged as another key indicator reflecting deep-pocketed confidence in Ethereum.

Whale Purchases Accelerate

Whales continue aggressive ETH accumulation, rapidly draining exchange supplies. Investor Ted Pillows highlighted one whale’s $8.91 million ETH purchase via Galaxy Digital yesterday, adding to $422 million in Ethereum amassed within a month.

These large-scale buys suggest mounting confidence among whales, even as overall market sentiment remains cautious.

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