Weekly SmartPills #29

BINANCE, BLOW TO THE HEART OF HAMAS

The Israeli authorities, in collaboration with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, have frozen all accounts suspected of being linked to Hamas. A heavy blow to the Palestinian terrorist organization, which has long used cryptocurrencies to raise funds and donations. The initiative, announced in recent hours, is part of Israel’s counterattack against Hamas.

The Palestinian political-military organization, in fact, would exploit CeFi and crypto channels to raise funds and donations. In this regard, Binance actively participated in the identification of these accounts. "Binance actively collaborates with law enforcement and global regulators to combat the financing of terrorism," the CEX stated to the press.

"Our team has worked around the clock to support ongoing efforts and ensure not only the security of the blockchain ecosystem, but of the entire global community."

Hamas and cryptocurrencies

The Palestinian terrorist organization is not new to exploiting crypto channels to pursue its goals. A first appeal for funding and to evade international sanctions was recorded in February 2019. In 2021, Israel had already blocked around 200 accounts on Binance. Chainalysis itself had repeatedly reported how Hamas had managed over the years to raise large sums of money through cryptocurrencies.

The freezing of Hamas’s crypto accounts is a significant blow to the terrorist organization. Cryptocurrencies represented an important source of funding, allowing Hamas to evade international sanctions and continue its activities. The initiative by Israel and Binance is an important sign of the willingness to cooperate in the fight against the financing of terrorism. An action that could have a significant global impact.

Conclusions

The freezing of Hamas’s crypto accounts is an important action that could have a significant impact in the fight against terrorism.
The initiative by Israel and Binance demonstrates the willingness to collaborate in countering a phenomenon that represents a threat to global security.

In this sense, the use of cryptocurrencies by terrorist organizations represents a further challenge for the international community. Authorities and cryptocurrency companies will have to work together to find effective solutions to counter this phenomenon.