Hamas’ Binance Accounts Frozen

On Wednesday, Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced it had collaborated with crypto exchange Binance to freeze several Hamas-linked trading accounts. The move comes a few days after the terror group attacked the Jewish country, leaving over 900 people dead.

Binance helped the Israeli authorities to identify and deactivate all accounts belonging to Hamas. In a statement, the largest cryptocurrency exchange said it would continue to partner with law enforcement agencies to put terror financing to an end. A Binance spokesperson said the firm was dedicated to ensuring security and safety not only on blockchain but also in the real world.

Binance says the accounts owned by Hamas have been receiving large sums of money since Saturday, when the terrorists executed the deadly attack. Hamas shared the addresses of its accounts on various social media platforms, urging supporters to make crypto donations.

Hamas and Crypto Donations

This is not the first time Hamas has used crypto to raise funds. In 2019, the criminal organization asked supporters to donate Bitcoin after Israel-based banks froze all accounts belonging to the group.

Two years later, Israeli authorities and Binance identified over 200 trading accounts, which the duo said were owned by Palestinian companies that had connections with Hamas.

Data from blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis indicates that Hamas has managed to raise thousands of dollars using cryptocurrencies since 2018. However, earlier this year, Hamas’ military branch AI-Qassam Brigades shut its cryptocurrency donation program down, arguing that the Israeli government was able to identify some donors and later prosecuted them.

In June, Israeli authorities announced the seizure of over $1.5 million in digital currencies from accounts owned by two militant groups: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Elite Qued Force and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Israel-Based Crypto Leaders Launch Crypto Aid Israel to Raise Funds

Meanwhile, crypto leaders in Israel announced the launch of Crypto Aid Israel on Monday. The Initiative seeks to collect donations to help affected Israelis. The team behind the project says donors can send 12 crypto assets. Some of them include USDC, USDC, BTC, and ETH. As of this writing, data on cryptoaidisrael.com shows over $100,000 has been donated.