Families of Oct. 7 Victims Sue Binance

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing a lawsuit from the families of 300 American citizens who were injured or killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The families allege that Binance helped Hamas and other terrorist organizations move over $1 billion through its platform, effectively aiding terrorism, the New York Times reports.

• The suit, filed in federal court in North Dakota, claims Binance ignored warnings about suspicious activity and failed to enforce basic security checks, allowing money to flow to groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The plaintiffs argue that Binance's actions went beyond accidental lapses and were part of a deliberate strategy to attract high-risk clients and evade oversight. "This was not a compliance lapse; it was a business model," said Jonathan Missner, a lawyer representing the families.

• The complaint cites specific instances where Binance allegedly facilitated transactions for sanctioned groups, including a broker in Gaza handling "high-risk" customers as recently as this month. The families are seeking unspecified damages under a US law that permits terrorism victims to sue foreign entities in American courts.
• Three other lawsuits have been filed in the US arguing that Binance "aided and abetted" Hamas but this one provides much more detail than the others, two filed in New York and one in Alabama, on digital wallets used by Hamas and other groups Bloomberg reports.

• The lawsuit provides detailed accounts of alleged money laundering, including schemes involving gold shipments from Venezuela to Iran to skirt US sanctions. It also points to Binance accounts that allegedly moved hundreds of millions in cryptocurrency and cash, the Times reports.
• The case also highlights that Binance's founder, Changpeng Zhao, was convicted of money laundering in 2023 but was later pardoned by President Trump after a major business deal between Binance and a Trump family crypto venture. Binance previously paid $4.3 billion in fines and admitted to past compliance failures in a 2023 settlement with US regulators.
• The plaintiffs include Yechiel Leiter, the current Israeli ambassador to the US, Bloomberg reports. His son, an Israeli soldier, was killed by Hamas.