The crypto alternate insists it solely froze a “restricted quantity” of accounts over “illicit funds”
Main cryptocurrency alternate Binance has been accused of seizing “all funds from all Palestinians” on a request from the Israeli Protection Forces (IDF). The alternate has denied the allegation, insisting it focused solely a “restricted” variety of accounts over “illicit funds.”
The accusation was first raised by Ray Youssef, the CEO of peer-to-peer crypto market NoOnes and co-founder of crypto platform Paxful, on Monday. The crypto entrepreneur took to X to immediately 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 a number of sources and a letter from the Israeli authorities stated to have been circulated by Binance.
The letter, signed in November 2023 by Israel’s Nationwide Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, Paul Landes, was allegedly referred to by the platform in response to Palestinian customers who appealed the block. The paperwork cite an Israeli legislation enabling the army to subject a “momentary seizure of property of a declared terrorist group,” together with cryptocurrencies.
The measure is predicted to have an effect on not solely Palestinians, however residents of different nations bordering Israel, Youssef alleged.
“All Palestinians are affected and judging by the way in which issues are going all Lebanese and Syrians will get the identical therapy. Not your keys, not your cash,” Youssef claimed.
Binance has firmly rejected the allegations, with its CEO Richard Teng dismissing the experiences as “FUD” – spreading of “concern, uncertainty, and doubt.”
“Solely a restricted variety of consumer accounts, linked to illicit funds, had been 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 laws.”
The Binance boss, nevertheless, has not elaborated on the variety of customers affected or the quantity of funds “frozen” on their accounts. Palestinians have solely a minor presence on the platform. The share of visitors from Palestine amounted to just some 0.05% of complete visitors over the previous yr, the Cointelegraph on-line outlet reported, citing statistics information collected by the web site analytics supply SimilarWeb.
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