Disrupting Terrorist Financing Networks: A scoping Review of Countering Funding for Political Violence and Extremist Operations in the U.S

Abstract

Terrorist financing is a major fuel for political violence and extremist operations in the world. The increasing advancement of digital technologies, cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding platforms, and social media has significantly transformed how extremist groups raise, transfer, and conceal funds, yet little has been done to examine the broader digital transformation of terrorist financing and its implications for the United States. This scoping review examined evolving trends, financing strategies, and operational challenges associated with terrorist financing networks and assessed their implications for the United States counterterrorism agenda. Following the Arksey and O’Malley guidelines for scoping reviews, relevant studies were identified through systematic database searches and screened using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ten studies were selected and analyzed thematically. The findings underscored four major themes: the digitalization of terrorist financing, the fusion of lawful and unlawful funding mediums, administrative and institutional weaknesses, and the growing need for collaborative and intelligence-driven disruption strategies. The review found that extremist financing increasingly operates within ordinary digital and financial ecosystems, making detection more difficult for regulators, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies. The study concludes that terrorist financing has become more decentralized, adaptive, and technologically sophisticated than many existing counterterrorism frameworks are prepared to address. Hence, strengthening United States national security will require a more proactive digital financial monitoring, sophisticated regulatory systems, and stronger inter-sectoral collaborations to disrupt evolving extremist financing networks before they escalate into acts of violence.