TRX is arguably one of the fastest and cheapest blockchains out there.
Apparently, terrorists, particularly Iran-based ones have noticed this too, and have now switched from using Bitcoin to fund their activities, to using TRX.
According to a recent report from Reuters, terrorists have started to use Tron so widely, that individuals, organizations and even governments are starting to notice.
Bitcoin used to be the obvious choice for terrorist activity.
It is the oldest, most well-known, and by far the most secure blockchain network in the world.
Because of these, individuals, corporations and, of course, terrorists have used it to raise funds, transfer money and escape sanctions for more than a decade.
With the rise of several other blockchains, the drawbacks of Bitcoin, such as transaction cost and speed began to get obvious.
Moreover, Bitcoin is pretty straightforward in some ways and allows anyone to see who transfers money, how much was transferred, and to whom this was transferred on the public ledger.
TRX, on the other hand, is faster and cheaper. The blockchain can process about 2,000 TPS, compared to Bitcoin's less than 10 TPS.
Even better, Tron also has lower fees (less than 1 cent per transaction, compared to Bitcoin's +$10).
Moreso, Tron also supports smart contracts and Dapps, making it much, much more difficult to track transactions and identify users.
Do you see where this is going?
According to a new report from Reuters, researchers analyzed data from the Israeli National Bureau of Counter-Terrorism Financing (NBCTF).
This data showed some surprising details.
Researchers discovered that there was a sharp increase in the number of TRX wallets that were seized by the Israeli authorities. Not only that, there was also a sharp decrease in the number of Bitcoin wallets.
This correlation between Bitcoin and Tron only has one interpretation:
Terrorists are starting to prefer TRX.
Keep in mind that between July 2021 and Oct. 2023, the NBCTF froze 143 Tron wallets, compared to only 18 Bitcoin wallets.
This means that TRX wallets outnumbered Bitcoin wallets, by about 8 to 1.
Of the 143 TRX wallets, 87 were seized in 2023 alone, indicating that this interest in Tron is particularly strong this year.
Some of the TRX wallets that were frozen by the NBCTF belonged to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that is backed by Iran and opposes Israel.
In essence, it is safe to assume that Iran-based terrorists, in particular, are the ones who prefer Tron.
In June 2023 alone, the NBCTF announced that it seized 39 TRX wallets that were used by Hezbollah to collect donations from its supporters.
Another group that used Tron as much as Hezbollah is Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip and also opposes Israel.
Around the same time as Hezbollah's seizures, the NBCTF said that it seized 26 TRX wallets that were used by Hamas to receive funds from Iran and other donors.
Israel has been actively monitoring the activity of terrorist groups on the blockchain for years.
In Oct. 2023, the Israeli Police Cyber Unit and several other Israeli intelligence agencies successfully froze crypto accounts belonging to Hamas.
The Israeli authorities also cooperated with Binance to identify and freeze more than 100 terrorist accounts earlier in mid-October this year.
So far, all of these funds that have been taken from terrorists will reportedly be transferred to the state treasury, according to Israeli law.
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