Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been accused of seizing “all funds from all Palestinians” on a request from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The exchange has denied the allegation, insisting it targeted only a “limited” number of accounts over “illicit funds.”
The accusation was first raised by Ray Youssef, the CEO of peer-to-peer crypto marketplace NoOnes and co-founder of crypto platform Paxful, on Monday. The crypto entrepreneur took to X to directly accuse Binance of seizing the funds of all Palestinians.
“Binance has seized all funds from all Palestinians as per the request of the IDF. They refuse to return the funds. All appeals denied,” Youssef claimed, citing several sources and a letter from the Israeli authorities said to have been circulated by Binance.
The letter, signed in November 2023 by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, Paul Landes, was allegedly referred to by the platform in response to Palestinian users who appealed the block. The documents cite an Israeli law enabling the military to issue a “temporary seizure of property of a declared terrorist organization,” including cryptocurrencies.
The measure is expected to affect not only Palestinians, but citizens of other countries bordering Israel, Youssef alleged.
“All Palestinians are affected and judging by the way things are going all Lebanese and Syrians will get the same treatment. Not your keys, not your coins,” Youssef claimed.
Binance has firmly rejected the allegations, with its CEO Richard Teng dismissing the reports as “FUD” – spreading of “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”
“Only a limited number of user accounts, linked to illicit funds, were blocked from transacting. There have been some incorrect statements about this,” Teng wrote on X on Wednesday, reiterating the platform’s compliance with “internationally accepted anti-money laundering legislation.”
The Binance boss, however, has not elaborated on the number of users affected or the volume of funds “frozen” on their accounts. Palestinians have only a minor presence on the platform. The share of traffic from Palestine amounted to only some 0.05% of total traffic over the past year, the Cointelegraph online outlet reported, citing statistics data collected by the website analytics source SimilarWeb.