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In summary
- Binance CEO Richard Teng has dismissed allegations of widespread asset seizures targeting Palestinian users, saying only a limited number of accounts linked to illicit funds were blocked.
- Noones CEO Ray Youssef claimed that Binance had confiscated all Palestinian funds at the request of the Israeli military, presenting a letter and video evidence.
- Binance has faced accusations of allowing transactions between US and Iranian users, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao is serving a prison sentence for violating money laundering requirements.
Binance CEO Richard Teng dismissed allegations of widespread asset seizures targeting Palestinian users on Wednesday, saying the Cryptocurrency exchange has only taken action on accounts in the region at the behest of the Israeli military in specific circumstances.
“Only a limited number of user accounts, linked to illicit funds, were blocked from transactions,” Teng said on Twitter. “As a global cryptocurrency exchange, we comply with international anti-money laundering legislation.”
On Monday, Ray Youssef, CEO of Noones, a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, claimed that Binance “has confiscated all funds from all Palestinians” at the request of the Israeli military. In a series of Twitter posts, he presented Noones as an alternative service for people “boycotting Binance,” along with several pieces of evidence purportedly backing up his claims.
Youssef posted a letter on Twitter written in Hebrew and dated November 2023. In the letter, which is not addressed specifically to anyone, Paul Landes, who heads Israel’s National Counter Terrorism Financing Bureau, stated that “cryptocurrency wallets, including those registered in his name, were used to transfer funds from the declared terrorist organization Hamas.”
While the authenticity of the document could not be immediately confirmed by Decrypt, the letter appeared to be addressed to a specific individual or entity. It also referenced a “Seizure Order,” which was not included alongside Youssef’s letter.
Youssef’s initial post, which claimed that Binance is refusing to “return funds,” had been viewed more than 500,000 times on Twitter, as of writing. In a follow-up tweet, Youssef said he “received this from multiple sources” who have had difficulty recovering their seized funds.
Decrypt reached out to the Israeli military for clarification on the authenticity and scope of the letter but did not immediately receive a response.
Youssef also presented “video evidence” that a blanket seizure of funds from Palestinian users had taken place. In the screen recording, which appears to be from an iPhone, Noones appears as a frequently visited website, and the phone has an app from the Domino’s pizza chain installed.
Youssef did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Since 2021, Israel has seized funds from 190 Binance accounts, Reuters reported in May. Additionally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said last November that Binance “willfully enabled” the exchange of around $900 million in trades between users in the U.S. and Iran, a sanctioned jurisdiction.
The DOJ statement came as Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ) resigned as part of a $4 billion settlement. Zhao pleaded guilty to violating U.S. criminal money laundering requirements, for which he is currently serving a 4-month prison sentence.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Before Youssef became Noones’ CEO, the entrepreneur was leading peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace Paxful. When the platform was abruptly shut down last April, Youssef told Decrypt that the service had gained a notable presence in the Global South.
In Tuesday’s post, Teng described “some incorrect statements about” asset seizures as “FUD,” using the acronym for fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Teng added that Binance’s last hope is “a lasting peace across the region” that has been rocked for months by conflict.
“We will vote with our money and go somewhere else until you grow some balls,” Youssef commented on Teng’s post. “This whitewashed bullshit won’t work and it only makes you look worse.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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