Violent extremists are increasingly turning to virtual currency for fundraising, according to Canada’s financial intelligence unit. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) issued a special bulletin Tuesday, warning that ideologically-motivated violent extremist (IMVE) groups are switching to virtual currency to raise funds after facing obstruction from online platforms. As online crowdfunding platforms and social media sites have cracked down on these groups in recent years, they’ve turned to alternative, smaller outlets and have encouraged their followers to send them money via mail, cheques, or money orders, which aren’t as easily detected, the centre said. “IMVE threat actors have also increasingly turned to virtual currencies for fundraising,” the bulletin said, adding that they mainly use the virtual currency donations to fund their propaganda and recruitment efforts. To date, virtual currency is not considered a legal tender in Canada. In February, the Canadian government added four groups it …