It appears that malicious actors from Hamas and Daesh groups used Binance to hold and trade their crypto.
Since 2021, Israel has seized around 190 Binance accounts believed to have connections to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Daesh.
According to the Reuters report, the information comes from previously unpublished documents from Israel's National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF), a division within the Israeli Defense Ministry.
Did you know?
Want to get smarter & wealthier with crypto?
Subscribe - We publish new crypto explainer videos every week!
What is Ripple? Beginner-Friendly XRP Explainer (Animated)
These documents reveal that in January, the NBCTF seized an unspecified amount of cryptocurrency from two accounts allegedly tied to Daesh, a terrorist group operating in Syria and Iraq.
Government records dating back to 2021 also suggest that over 100 of the confiscated Binance accounts were connected to Hamas, a Palestinian armed group frequently in conflict with Israeli Defense Forces.
The NBCTF stated on its website that the funds were seized to hinder Daesh's activities and damage its capacity to achieve its objectives.
It is worth noting that under Israeli law, the defense minister can authorize the confiscation of assets tied to terrorism, as determined by the Israeli ministry.
Binance faced criticism last year for policies that some believe enabled users to bypass its anti-money laundering controls. Reuters reported that since 2017, the crypto exchange had processed over $10 billion in payments from criminal enterprises and others seeking to evade US sanctions.
Binance asserts that it complies with all regulatory bodies to ensure its platform is not used by malicious actors. The company also mentioned that identifying whether an account is directly connected to a criminal organization can be a lengthy process.
Bad actors don't register accounts under the names of their criminal enterprises. This is why our team collaborates with law enforcement and leverages information only available to them to identify individuals operating accounts for illicit organizations.
At the end of April, the news broke that crypto exchange Binance is under investigation by the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office and Federal Police.
