ISRAEL AT WAR
Israel Police freezes Hamas crypto accounts on Binance
The accounts had been utilized by the terrorist organization to solicit donations through social media. The freezing operation was conducted with the assistance of cryptocurrency exchange Binance
Israel Police announced that they have successfully frozen cryptocurrency accounts linked to Hamas, which the terrorist organization had been using to collect donations via social media.
In a press release, Police said that the cyber unit of Lahav 433, in collaboration with National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel (NBCTF) under the Ministry of Defense, the Shin Bet, and other intelligence agencies, actively engaged in locating cryptocurrency infrastructures utilized by terrorist organizations for fundraising purposes.
"With the outbreak of the conflict, Hamas initiated a fundraising campaign on various social networks, urging the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into its accounts," Police wrote in a statement. It further explained that both the cyber unit and NBCTF swiftly acted to identify these accounts and freeze them, with the assistance of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The seized funds will be transferred to the state treasury.
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Back in March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance for multiple violations, some of which implied potential criminal activity, such as money laundering. For instance, it was noted that in February 2019, the company didn’t act against "Hamas transactions" on its platform.
Simultaneously, the police's cyber unit collaborated with British law enforcement to freeze an account at the British bank Barclays that Hamas had publicly shared for the purpose of receiving donations. The statement emphasized that the Israel Police, the Israel Defense Forces, and their partners remain committed to combating terrorism financing and seizing the strategic financial assets of terrorist organizations.
