When a group that says it provides financial assistance “relating to the jihad” sought to improve conditions for fighters in a squalid, sandbag-fortified trench in Syria late last year, it turned to a new funding conduit: bitcoin.

“There is currently no shelter to protect the food and ammunition from the rain,” the group, called al Sadaqah (“charity” in Arabic), lamented in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

The group’s Twitter feed contains a video showing a dirt floor strewn with blankets, bags of pita bread and hand grenades along with a message—“Donate anonymously with Cryptocurrency”—followed by a bitcoin address. So far, according to an online ledger, the group has received about $1,000.

The soliciting of digital currency by jihadist groups like al Sadaqah has only recently come under scrutiny from U.S. officials. In January, Rep. Ted Budd (R., N.C.) introduced a bill to establish a financial-technology task force to combat terrorists’ use of cryptocurrency. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee that the agency is also planning to investigate.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency has become an increasingly discussed topic among jihadist groups in the Middle East. This month, an issue of al-Haqiqa, a pro-al Qaeda online magazine, included a “Tech Talk” section that outlines bitcoin basics.