Binance denies allegations of seizing mass Palestinian funds

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has denied allegations that it has seized funds from Palestinian users, telling crypto.news that recent statements are untrue.

“There have been some false statements made about this.”

A Binance spokesperson told crypto.news:

On August 26, Ray Youssef, co-founder and former CEO of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Paxful, shared an image of a document from Israel’s National Counter-Terrorism Financing Office that hinted at “temporary seizure of property of a declared terrorist organization.” This included the seizure of crypto assets.

Binance confiscated all funds from all Palestinians upon request from the IDF. They refuse to return the funds. All appeals were rejected.

Your funds are in SAFU @noonesapp But.

By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the Secretary of Defense, pursuant to section 61(a)… pic.twitter.com/RYlsFmlh2i

— Ray Youssef (@ray_noOnes) August 26, 2024

According to Youssef, funds from Binance’s Palestinian users were “confiscated” and the exchange is refusing to “return the funds.”

Binance, on the other hand, said that “only a small number of user accounts linked to illicit funds were blocked from trading.” According to the spokesperson, the move comes as Binance works to “comply with internationally recognized sanctions legislation.”

In February, Binance agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement after the exchange and its former CEO pleaded guilty to money laundering and sanctions violations, including facilitating transactions for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In October 2023, Binance allegedly blocked over 100 user accounts related to Hamas. According to the report, this move was requested by Israel.

According to Youssef’s X post, Binance customer service told a Palestinian user to contact an email address related to the Israeli police.

Here is video evidence from a Palestinian.

This is 100% confirmed. Israel is putting huge pressure on Binance and all other exchanges to seize ALL Palestinians’ funds. The document in the original post has 500 names but there are many versions like this… picture.twitter.com/p3eoFOvgXR

— Ray Youssef (@ray_noOnes) August 27, 2024

Binance did not respond to crypto.news’ request for information regarding the customer support screenshot.