Hamas No Longer Welcome on Binance Crypto Exchange

In the aftermath of its attack on Israel on Oct.7, Hamas launched a crypto fundraising campaign to further its war of terror. Many of those crypto wallets were on Binance, the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange.

Following a request from Israeli police, Binance froze the Hamas-connected wallets, although questions remain as to why the company took so long to do something in the first place.

Funds seized

Palestinian terror organization Hamas is no longer welcome to do its business on Binance.

With the death toll in Israel now upwards of 1,000 and with 2,700 wounded, the crypto exchange acquiesced to Israeli demands to cease providing services for the brutal organization.

“Over the past few days, our team has been working in real-time, around the clock, to support ongoing efforts to combat terror financing,” said a Binance spokesperson.

“We are committed to ensuring the safety and security not just of the blockchain ecosystem but also of the global community through our proactive work,” they added in an email to CoinDesk on Tuesday.

The matter came to a head when Hamas sought further donations after its surprise attack on Israel on Saturday.

As any experienced crypto proponent knows, however, crypto held on a centralized exchange is easily confiscated by the powers that be. In crypto parlance, the maxim “not your keys, not your crypto” expresses much the same idea.

If the cryptocurrency is held on an exchange, it is the exchange and not the user that holds the keys.

Binance acted with help from Israeli authorities. Israeli cybercrime unit Lahav 433 identified the accounts, with the seized coins being transferred to the state treasury, according to the Israeli state newspaper Ynet. The total value of the coins is not known.

As you’re watching the attacks in Israel today by Hamas, remember that @binance helped fund these attacks and then joked about it. pic.twitter.com/g3CBJaPBy4

— Travis Kling (@Travis_Kling) October 7, 2023

A longstanding problem

Binance may have dealt with Hamas terrorists following the outbreak of war, but questions remain as to why the exchange took so long to act.

In March, a lawsuit filed by the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) against Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao alleges that the firm knew about Hamas transactions on the platform.

Former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim is also being sued by the CFTC. The complaint against Lim alleges that he knew about Hamas activity on Binance since at least 2019. At that time, Lim said, “We see the bad, but we close two eyes.”

The civil enforcement action confirms Hamas activity is a longstanding issue for the exchange. But it would not be fair to say that Binance has done nothing with regard to the matter since. In June, Binance worked with Israeli authorities to seize the funds of 190 accounts with links to terrorist groups.

These actions constitute a step in the right direction for Binance, but for the victims of the latest Hamas attack, it may be a classic case of too little, too late.

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• Source: https://metanews.com/hamas-no-longer-welcome-on-binance-crypto-exchange/