As war breaks out in the Middle East, many crypto observers highlighted how Binance is being tied to the fundamentalist Palestinian organization Hamas.
The observers cited the complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao back in March. The legal move aims to raise the issue that the crypto platform routinely flouted American derivatives and regulatory rules.
In the complaint, it was suggested that Binance officers, employees, and agents have admitted that the Binance platform has enabled possibly unlawful activity.
For example, after getting information “regarding HAMAS transactions” on Binance in February 2019, former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim explained to a colleague that terrorists normally send “small sums” since “large sums constitute money laundering.” Lim’s colleague responded: “can barely buy an AK47 with 600 bucks.”
The complaint wrote: “And with regard to certain Binance customers, including customers from Russia, Lim acknowledged in a February 2020 chat: ‘Like come on. They are here for crime.’ Binance’s MLRO agreed that ‘we see the bad, but we close 2 eyes.’”
Israel recently was subjected to a massive, large scale attack by Hamas forces on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Not even an hour later, Israel’s defence force declared a state of war as it worked to address the matter.
Once the war broke, crypto observers WEre quick to highlight the Hamas link to Binance first raised after the CFTC complaint came out in March.
In May, an Israeli anti-terror finance team took action by freezing Binance accounts that the government alleges have connections to extremist organizations such as Islamic State and Hamas. Over the course of the last 18 months, this agency has confiscated approximately 190 accounts on the Binance platform. Among these accounts, two were associated with Islamic State, while others were believed to have ties to the Hamas group.
While observers are wondering how Binance can potentially dismiss this as transactions they aren’t aware of, some raise the fact that the CFTC complaint was filed in March and therefore, continuing transactions with so-called terrorist groups is potentially tantamount to aiding the militants organization, and by extension, the current war in the Gaza Strip.
An X account that goes by the name Binance Risk Management (but isn’t connected to the crypto firm) highlighted that a Binance bank partner, Axos Financial, appears they might have had knowledge of BAM Trading being involved in illicit activities. While the CFTC complaint was filed in March, Axos had $350 million in Binance deposits as of June.
Curiously, Axos not only remained silent about these matters, but CEO Greg Garrabrants stated verbatim during a conference call on January 26, 2023, “We don’t have any exposure to crypto-related activity or deposits…” Moreover, they omitted any reference to cryptocurrency from their 10-K filings for this year, whereas the previous version included such information.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
