One former CIA analyst told the Wall Street Journal that it was "a matter of time" before extremists started to use this technology to further their goals.
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Terror groups may be planning to use non-fungible tokens to raise funds and spread their message, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal says an NFT has emerged that praised Islamist militants for bombing a mosque in Afghanistan — an attack that killed 21 people.
It was called IS-NEWS #01 and featured the logo for Islamic State — and worryingly, the NFT was visible on at least one marketplace.
One former CIA analyst told the newspaper that it was "a matter of time" before extremists started to use this technology to further their goals.
There have long been fears that cryptocurrencies could be used to circumvent efforts to turn off the money taps in the traditional economy.
And here's the problem: American officials could find it "nearly impossible" to take this NFT off the internet. Even if major marketplaces agree to blacklist it, the collectible would still exist on the blockchain.
Mario Cosby, from the blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, told the WSJ:
"It's as censorship-proof as you can get. There's not really anything anyone can do to actually take this NFT down."
The creation of this NFT has been described as an experiment — suggesting that, if the terrorist sympathizer manages to evade the authorities, more could follow because the content would be "indestructible."
Although it was registered on OpenSea for a brief time, this marketplace took down the creator's account and warned it has "a zero-tolerance policy for listings that incite hate and violence."
