"When Islamic State needed to move and disguise its money, it turned, US prosecutors said in 2023, to the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange: Binance. So too did al-Qaida, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which used the platform to help bankroll its operations in the years leading up to the 7 October attack in Israel. Binance was not accused of directly financing these groups, but prosecutors found that it knowingly allowed its exchange to function as a conduit enabling extremist organisations to shift funds, evade scrutiny"
"By 2024, the self-styled king of crypto had fallen from grace, pleading guilty to money laundering charges and entering prison, while Binance agreed to pay a record $4.3bn penalty for its role in facilitating terrorist financing. The case was hailed as a rare victory for regulators willing to take on the industry's biggest players and for victims of the violence linked to those financial flows."
Islamic State, al-Qaida, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas used Binance to move and disguise funds and to help bankroll operations prior to the 7 October attack in Israel. Prosecutors found that Binance knowingly allowed its exchange to act as a conduit enabling extremist organisations to shift funds, evade scrutiny and frustrate investigations. Changpeng Zhao, Binance's founder and chief executive, pleaded guilty to money laundering, entered prison, and Binance paid a record $4.3bn penalty for facilitating terrorist financing. Families of US citizens killed on 7 October sued Binance in a class-action accusing the company of pitching itself to terrorist organisations. President Trump later pardoned Zhao.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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