Media: Binance closes more than 100 Hamas-linked accounts

Since October 7, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance has closed, at the request of Israeli authorities, more than 100 accounts linked to financing Hamas. The Financial Times reports.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Israeli law enforcement authorities further requested information on 200 accounts, most of which are held on Binance.

The request came amid roughly 150 social-media fundraising initiatives for cryptocurrency donations to organisations linked to Hamas.

Israel had been tracking crypto accounts suspected of ties to terrorism long before the October attack. A Binance compliance officer familiar with procedures said the scale of requests has risen sharply recently.

“Every time Hamas posts a donation address, the company must locate all exchange customers who had access to that address,” he added.

Binance confirmed that since the summer they blocked a small number of accounts, adding that they comply with internationally recognised sanctions rules.

U.S. financial regulators say that assets linked to various terrorist groups passed through the exchange. In the March suit CFTC against the exchange, it was noted that the top management of the trading platform received information ‘regarding Hamas transactions’ in 2019.

In the emails presented in the lawsuit, Binance employees discussed among themselves that terrorists usually send ‘small amounts’, because ‘large [volumes] constitute money-laundering’. Another quipped that someone ‘could barely buy an AK-47 for $600’. Binance filed a motion to dismiss the complaint with the CFTC.

Over the past two years, Israeli authorities have confiscated millions of shekels on cryptocurrency accounts suspected of links to Hamas and other armed groups in the Middle East.

ForkLog previously reported that Tether blocked 32 addresses totaling more than $870,000, linking them to illicit activity, terrorism financing and the wars in Israel and Ukraine.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Palestinian militants received at least $134 million in cryptocurrencies.

According to media reports, since December 2021 authorities in Israel have blocked 189 accounts on Binance, reportedly linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) and Hamas.