Terrorist Use of Hybrid Threat Finance Networks

This research briefing by Jessica Davis examines how terrorist financing is increasingly conducted through “hybrid threat finance networks” that combine traditional financial systems with digital assets. The paper argues that cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are not replacing established methods such as cash, banks, money service businesses and hawala networks; rather, they are being layered onto existing systems to move funds more quickly, cheaply and with greater opacity. Drawing on a dataset of over 21,000 datapoints across 1,150 records and 19 fields, the report finds that digital assets are now a growing feature of terrorist financing activity, particularly in the transfer of funds between supporters, facilitators and terrorist organisations.