Israeli authorities have seized roughly 190 Binance accounts with alleged ties to terrorist groups such as Hamas and Daesh since 2021, Reuters reported Thursday.
The report cites never-before-published documents from Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), a counter-terrorism division of the Israeli Defense Ministry.
According to those documents, the NBCTF confiscated in January an undisclosed amount of crypto from two accounts with alleged links to Daesh, a terrorist group based in Syria and Iraq. Other government records, dating as far back as 2021, allege more than 100 of the seized Binance accounts had ties to Hamas, an armed Palestinian group that has often clashed with the Israeli Defense Forces.
Israeli authorities seized the funds to "thwart the activity" of Daesh and "impair its ability to further its goals," the NBCTF said on its website.
The NBCTF did not immediately respond to WJB's request for comment.
Israeli law permits the country's defense minister to order the confiscation of terrorist-affiliated assets, as determined by the Israeli ministry.
Binance came under fire last year for policies that critics say encouraged the exchange’s users to flout its money laundering controls. Since 2017, the exchange has processed more than $10 billion in payments executed by criminal enterprises and other bad actors attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported.
Binance says it complies with all regulators to ensure its platform is not accessible to terrorist and other nefarious actors. It also said that it must go through a long process to determine whether an individual account actually has clear ties to any criminal organizations.
"With regard to the specific organizations mentioned in the article, it’s important to clarify that bad actors don’t register accounts under the names of their criminal enterprises,” the company said Thursday in a public response to the Reuters report. “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.”
The exchange has a 700-member compliance team that processes 1,300 law enforcement requests on a weekly basis," Binance VP of Global Intelligence and Investigations Tigran Gambaryan told WJB at Consensus 2023 in April.
Daesh has seen a resurgence in southern Syria since last year, according to the Middle East Institute.
The once-sprawling caliphate controlled between 100,000 and 110,000 sq. kilometers of land across Syria and Iraq at its peak in late 2014. That area shrank to roughly 4,000 sq. kilometers after a series of armed conflicts with American and other military groups forced the group to retreat. Daesh abandoned its last stronghold in Baghuz, Syria in 2019.
See also: Hamas' Military Wing to Stop Accepting Bitcoin Donations: Report
Edited by James Rubin.
DISCLOSURE
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, WJB is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. WJB is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain WJB employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. WJB journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
:format(webp)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/coindesk/dcfcc5f4-a693-418d-a529-bb8e772f39d1.png)
Elizabeth Napolitano
Elizabeth Napolitano is a news reporter at WJB.
Follow @LizKNapolitano on Twitter
Elizabeth Napolitano
Elizabeth Napolitano is a news reporter at WJB.
Follow @LizKNapolitano on Twitter
source:coindesk
Polkadot was launched in May 2020. In a market dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, it quickly established itself as the next generation blockchain. The scale and interoperability problems limit Bitcoin's ability to transfer value without the assistance of
For some newcomers to the currency circle, they are not familiar with the investment in the currency circle, and their understanding of the special currency is not very deep. Therefore, they may be at a loss in the choice of investment methods. Many inves
Lummis is a well-known crypto advocate on Capitol Hill with over $100,000 in crypto.
Several analysts argue that shrimp accumulation is good for the Bitcoin network because it makes the asset more decentralized over time.
ARK Invest filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF in collaboration with 21Shares long before BlackRock did, and its application is reportedly first in line for the SEC’s approval.
Interestingly, the price surge was on the back of increased activity from whales, as indicated by on-chain data. The increased activity led to an increased"/>
Recent market dynamics have seen Solana struggling to break above the $200 mark. A notable bearish factor among these market fundamentals is the recent"/>
DOGE, the internet's favorite memecoin, is back in the spotlight. Recent data reveals a surge in futures market activity, coupled with bullish technical"/>
The recent stratospheric rise of Bitcoin, reaching a new all-time high of $73,000, has sent ripples of excitement and trepidation through the crypto world."/>
Co-founder of Tornado Cash Roman Storm has filed a motion to dismiss the charges levied against him by the US Department of Justice (DOJ)."/>
On Thursday, March 28, a hack occurred on Prisma Finance, a decentralized lending protocol on the Ethereum network. The exploiter carted away about 3,257.7"/>
Once fully licensed in Dubai, Bybit plans to run a full-scope exchange, offering crypto lending, payments, investment and other services.
Tue, 18 Apr 2023