Palestinian Islamist organisation and militant group Hamas has called out to supporters for funding – but in an unusual method.

The cash-strapped fundamentalist organisation is appealing to supporters to finance the group through Bitcoin.

“Support the resistance financially through the bitcoin currency,” said a spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing. The exact means by which the funding would occur would be announced later, they said.

Hamas is currently the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip since it took over the area more than 10 years ago.

The group is known for waging war against Israel multiple times and is regarded by the US and the European Union as a terrorist organisation.

According to reports by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the organisation has been struggling with financial difficulty as banks seek to distance themselves from the group.

The statement from Hamas accused Israel for looking to cut off the group’s access to finance.

Bitcoin’s dark history

Due to the virtual coin’s security and anonymity, Bitcoin is well-known for its association with buying and selling illicit items and substances.

Research from the University of Technology Sydney’s Business School in December 2017 found that somewhere between 43 to 49 per cent of all Bitcoin transactions were related to buying and selling illegal goods like drugs, weapons, and pirated software.

“Bitcoin has become the PayPal of the dark web,” the research said.

UTS finance professor and research study co-author Talis Putnins indicated that it was possible to track whether Bitcoin was being used for legal or illegal purposes by looking at the frequency of transactions.

“Users involved in illegal activity are very active in terms of buying, selling and trading, whereas legal users are largely buying and holding the cryptocurrency,” Putnins said.

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