Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance denied allegations of seizing funds from Palestinian users, telling crypto.news recent reports it had were not true.
“There have been some incorrect statements around this.”
A Binance spokesperson told crypto.news
On Aug. 26, Ray Youssef, the co-founder and former CEO of the peer-to-peer crypto exchange Paxful, shared an image of a document by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing that hinted at “temporary seizure of property of a declared terrorist organization.” This included the confiscation of crypto assets.
Per Youssef’s claims, Binance’s Palestinian user funds have been “seized” and the exchange refuses “to return the funds.”
On the other hand, Binance said that “only a small number of user accounts, linked to illicit funds, were blocked from transacting.” Per the spokesperson, the movement comes as Binance tries to “comply with internationally accepted sanctions legislation.”
In February, Binance agreed to a $4.3 billion plea deal after the exchange and former CEO pleaded guilty to charges of anti-money laundering and sanctions violations. The charges included facilitating transactions for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In October 2023, Binance allegedly blocked over 100 user accounts related to Hamas. Per the report, the move was requested by Israel.
According to Youssef’s X post, the Binance customer service told a Palestinian user to contact an email address related to the Israeli police.
Binance did not respond to crypto.news’ request for information on the screen recording of its customer support.
