Families of alleged Hamas victims sue Binance

As Bloomberg reports, the families of alleged victims of the terror group Hamas have filed a lawsuit against the crypto exchange Binance. The allegation is that Binance facilitated indirect financial transactions for Hamas. In addition, the lawsuit accuses Binance of supporting terrorist organizations by circumventing sanctions and money laundering regulations.

The lawsuit is against Binance's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao - who is currently awaiting his sentencing in the U.S. for failing to implement anti-money laundering measures - and against the governments of Iran and Syria.

In the US, the importance of cryptocurrencies is increasingly becoming a political issue. US politician Cynthia Lummis wanted Binance investigated as early as October 2023. The senator for the state of Wyoming spoke of "unregulated, centralized crypto brokers located outside the United States that have facilitated significant illegal financial activity over the past two years."

In April 2023, it was revealed that Binance had been aware since 2019 of Hamas activities on its platforms. The revelations were based on a lawsuit filed by the CFTC had filed against Binance.