In a recent development, Israel has seized 190 Binance accounts with alleged terrorist ties since 2021, according to a report by Reuters. The Israeli authorities have been cracking down on cryptocurrency accounts with suspected links to terrorism as part of their ongoing efforts to combat illegal activities.
Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its popularity has made it a target for illicit activities. The Israeli government has been monitoring Binance accounts for several years, and in 2021, they began to take action against accounts with alleged terrorist ties.
Binance caught up in a terrorism crackdown
Reuters reported recently that Israeli authorities have seized approximately 190 Binance accounts with alleged connections to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Daesh since 2021. The report cites never-before-published documents from the counter-terrorism division of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF).
According to these documents, the NBCTF seized an undisclosed quantity of crypto in January from two accounts allegedly linked to Daesh, a terrorist organization based in Syria and Iraq. More than 100 of the seized Binance accounts allegedly had ties to Hamas. This armed Palestinian group frequently clashes with the Israeli Defense Forces, according to other government records dating as far back as 2021.
The NBCTF stated on its website that Israeli authorities seized the funds to “confront the activity” of Daesh and “limit its ability to advance its goals.”
According to Israeli law, the country’s defense minister may order the confiscation of assets associated with terrorism, as determined by the Israeli ministry.
The seizure of these accounts is a significant step in the fight against terrorism financing. Crypto has become an increasingly popular tool for terrorists to fund their activities, as it offers a degree of anonymity and is difficult to trace.
Binance tied to anti-money laundering missteps
Last year, Binance was criticized for policies that, according to critics, encouraged the exchange’s users to circumvent its money laundering controls. Reuters reported that since 2017, the exchange has processed more than $10 billion in payments made by criminal organizations and other bad actors attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
Binance asserts that it complies with all regulatory requirements to ensure that its platform is inaccessible to terrorists and other criminals. It also stated that a lengthy process is required to determine whether a particular account has distinct ties to criminal organizations.
Regarding the specific organizations mentioned in the article, it is essential to clarify that bad actors do not register accounts under the names of their criminal enterprises. The company stated publicly in response to a Reuters report that:
This is why our team collaborates with law enforcement and leverages information that is only available to them in order to identify individuals operating accounts for illicit organizations.
Binance
According to Tigran Gambaryan, vice president of global intelligence and investigations at Binance, the exchange has a 700-member compliance team that processes 1,300 law enforcement requests per week.
According to the Middle East Institute, Daesh has regained strength in southern Syria since last year.
In late 2014, the once-vast caliphate controlled between 100,000 and 110,000 square kilometers of land in Syria and Iraq. After a series of armed conflicts with American and other military groups, the group was compelled to retreat, and its territory shrank to approximately 4,000 square kilometers. In 2019, Daesh abandoned its final stronghold in Baghuz, Syria.
The Israeli government has stated that it will continue to monitor Binance accounts for any suspicious activity and will take swift action against those involved in illegal activities. The international community has applauded Israel’s efforts to combat terrorism financing and has called on other countries to take similar steps to disrupt terrorist funding networks.
