According to sources from a prominent industry executive, the major global cryptocurrency exchange Binance confiscated cryptocurrency from Palestinians in response to a request from Israel.
On August 26, Ray Youssef, the CEO of Noones P2P platform and co-founder of the peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto platform Paxful, reported to X that Binance confiscated funds from Palestinians in response to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“Binance has confiscated all funds from all Palestinians in accordance with the IDF’s request.” They refuse to reimburse the funds. “All appeals have been denied,” Youssef wrote, citing a letter from Israel authorities that Binance had passed.
He contended that the measure had an impact on all Palestinians and predicted that other countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, would likely follow suit.
“All Palestinians are impacted, and the current trajectory suggests that all Syrians and Lebanese will receive the same treatment.” Youssef declared, “Not your keys, not your coins.”
Binance cited a letter signed by Paul Landes, the director of Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, in November 2023, in response to Palestinian users who requested the restoration of the blocked funds, as per Youssef’s sources.
The letter, which was sent in Hebrew, stated that the anti-terrorism laws permit the Minister of Defense to issue a “temporary seizure of property of a declared terrorist organization,” which includes cryptocurrency funds. According to the correspondence,
The letter also stated that the Ministry of Defense should order the confiscation of the property for which the seizure order was issued.
Binance Denies that it has Blocked Funding from all Palestinians
According to a communication from Binance, the cryptocurrency trading platform has restricted specific Palestinian accounts that are engaged in illicit activities.
Binance informed Cointelegraph that the restrictions had a minimal impact on the number of users when prompted to corroborate or deny the reports.
Additionally, Binance complies with “internationally accepted sanctions legislation, just like any other financial institution,” according to a spokesperson for the company.
“Our foremost objective is to establish a peace that endures in the region,” the representative specified.
No further information was provided regarding the number of users who were impacted or the date on which the restrictions were implemented by Binance.
The website analytics source SimilarWeb provided Cointelegraph with data indicating that Palestine is a minor market for Binance. Over the past year, Palestine’s traffic share accounted for approximately 0.05% of Binance’s visitors.
SimilarWeb reports that various jurisdictions with comparable traffic shares, including Albania (0.06%), Malta (0.03%), and El Salvador (0.06%), have comparable traffic shares.
Since August 2023, the traffic of Palestine on Binance has increased by over 80%.
