Hamas victims sue Binance for ‘allowing access to funds’

VICTIMS of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct 7 are suing Binance alleging that the crypto exchange enabled the terror group to access funds.

Natalie Raanan, 18, and her mother, Judith, who were both taken hostage by Hamas, were named as claimants on a lawsuit from three families.

The legal claim, filed in New York, accused Binance, which counts Lord Vaizey, the former UK digital minister, as a member of its advisory board, of “aiding and abetting” Hamas by allowing the group to send crypto transactions and evade sanctions for years.

The lawsuit claimed that Binance and Changpeng Zhao, its former chief executive, “knowingly permitted illicit actors, including Hamas” to “evade US laws and restrictions related to terror financing”.

Crypto currency exchanges have long been dogged by accusations that they fail to do enough to stop payments to terror groups, with criminals using digital coins to make their funding more difficult to trace.

Despite these concerns, UK politicians, including Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, have sought to woo UK cryptocurrency companies in an effort to turn Britain into a “crypto hub”. Meanwhile, a number of UK political figures including Lord Vaizey have taken jobs at crypto businesses, even as a regulatory crackdown on digital currency exchanges gathers pace.

This week, George Osborne, a former chancellor, joined Binance rival Coinbase as an adviser.

Meanwhile, Lord Hammond, another former chancellor, last year joined UK cryptocurrency start-up Copper.

The new legal claims come after Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to US banking law and sanctions violations, which will require them both to pay more than $4bn (£3.1bn) in penalties.

In November, US prosecutors accused Binance of failing to stop funds and accounts being used by Hamas, and failing to report the transactions to law enforcement, between 2017 and mid-2023.

Binance has previously insisted that it works with law enforcement officials to try to block payments to terror groups.

In a blog post following the company’s guilty plea, it admitted to “misguided decisions” during its rapid growth.

Binance last year was forced to halt sign-ups from new UK users, after an intervention by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Binance and Lord Vaizey did not respond to requests for comment.