Israel has seized about 190 accounts at cryptocurrency exchange Binance since 2021 for alleged ties to terrorist groups, including the Islamic State (also known as the terrorist group). IS), Reuters reported, citing official documents from Israeli authorities.
Two crypto accounts at Binance are said to have ties to the Islamic State , a jihadist group that held territory in Syria and Iraq throughout 2013 and 2014, along with dozens of others. linked to the Islamic group Hamas, Reuters reported .
The Israeli government’s counterterrorism unit said in the document that the seizure of the two accounts in January was “necessary to prevent the activities of the Islamic State terrorist organization.”
In response to the Reuters article, Binance said in a blog post on Friday that the news agency had “deliberately” omitted key events to “fit their story”.
“An often overlooked (or perhaps in this case, intentionally overlooked) fact is that a crypto exchange (or anyone) cannot block or reverse a digital asset deposit. after the transaction has been verified on the blockchain,” said Binance. “Once we become aware of bad behavior, we will intervene and take appropriate action, including freezing funds and working with law enforcement to assist with investigations.”
Binance added that the bad guys don’t register accounts in the names of criminal businesses. “This is why our team works with law enforcement and leverages available information to identify individuals operating accounts for illicit organizations.”
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been in the spotlight over the past year for allegedly weak money-laundering controls.
In a December 2022 report, Reuters alleges that Binance processed more than $10 billion in payments to U.S. sanctions evaders.
Binance said in a blog post that it now has more than 750 employees working on compliance and has this year helped law enforcement freeze or seize over $1 billion worth of assets.
