Israel Crackdown Freezes Millions In Crypto Assets On Binance To Block Hamas Funds

Israel has intensified efforts to disrupt Hamas' access to cryptocurrency market.

What Happened: Financial Times reported that, since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, dozens of cryptocurrency accounts have been closed and millions of dollars’ worth of crypto coins were seized.

More than 100 accounts were affiliated with Binance BNB/USD. The recent activities have sparked significant discussions, which are expected to be a central theme at the upcoming Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14.

Binance stated that it had "blocked" a few accounts recently, adhering to "internationally recognized sanctions rules."
Why It Matters: "The amount [of crypto funds] has super-increased since the attack began," according to Tom Alexandrovich of the Israel National Cyber Directorate.

Separately, Tether USDT/USD has also announced the freezing of 32 addresses connected to unrest in Israel and Ukraine, holding over $873,000.

Israeli law enforcement documents have identified approximately 150 donation campaigns linked to Hamas over the past 11 days.

A lawsuit by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March had earlier implicated Binance in transactions associated with Hamas.

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A Binance staff member commented on the increasing volume of their work since the attacks, stating, "Every time Hamas publishes an address for donations, the company has to go back and find all the Binance customers that have had exposure to this address."

Public collaboration is being sought by Israeli authorities to monitor suspicious crypto fund movements.

Following a shutdown in June, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant remarked on the complexities of curbing terror financing involving digital currencies.

The Financial Stability Board is among the global entities crafting strategies to offset terrorist financing in digital assets.

What's Next: There have been requests for information about 200 other accounts, primarily on Binance.

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