Binance reportedly seized Palestinian cryptocurrencies

According to allegations that emerged this week, Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, froze the crypto assets of Palestinian users at the request of Israeli authorities. This claim was raised by Ray Youssef, co-founder of Paxful and CEO of the Noones P2P platform.

What was Binance’s policy in this process?

Youssef said on X (Twitter) that Binance confiscated all Palestinian funds at the request of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He added that the exchange rejected appeals from affected users and refused to return the funds. Neither Binance nor the Israeli authorities have responded to these allegations at this time.

Binance has seized all funds from all Palestinians as per the request of the IDF. They refuse to return the funds. All appeals denied.

Your funds are SAFU at @noonesapp tho.

In accordance with the authority delegated to me by the Minister of Defense, according to Section 61(a)… pic.twitter.com/RYlsFmlh2i

— Ray Youssef (@raythewarchief) August 26, 2024

Behind Binance’s account closure is the allegation that the users whose accounts were closed and funds confiscated received funds from the ‘Dubai Exchange Company’, which Israel calls a harmful organization. The Gaza-based organization was designated as a harmful organization by the Israeli authorities in 2022.

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On his social media account, Youssef expressed concern that centralized exchanges like Binance are becoming ‘government informants’ instead of secure platforms for storing digital assets.

He claimed that Binance leaked information about users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to the IDF without any due process or court order. If Youssef’s allegations are true, the move violates a number of legal rules, both national and international.