A new federal lawsuit has accused Binance of enabling Hamas-linked payments in the years leading up to the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel, placing fresh pressure on the world’s largest crypto exchange and its founder Changpeng Zhao.
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According to the Financial Times, the filing claims the platform allowed large volumes of sanctioned money to move undetected, despite previous warnings and U.S. enforcement actions. The filing paints a picture of a platform that became
an unregulated financial channel for sanctioned organizations, despite mounting
warnings and prior enforcement actions.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao accused of facilitating payments to Hamas https://t.co/qlyh5uuXp5
— Financial Times (@FT) November 24, 2025
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in North
Dakota, accuses Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao of allowing
U.S.-designated terror groups to transfer funds at scale.
Families Claim Binance Enabled Covert Transfers
The suit argues that Binance “deliberately failed to
monitor inbound funds,” creating a pathway for Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to circulate money through
the exchange.
The 306 American plaintiffs reportedly include families of
victims killed or kidnapped on October 7. Their attorneys argue that Binance’s
lax controls directly contributed to the attack’s financing.
The filing claims Binance enabled more than $1 billion
in transfers to wallets tied to designated terror organizations, far above the
roughly $2,000 in Hamas-linked transactions previously cited by U.S.
authorities in 2023.
According to the complaint, the exchange allowed users
under sanction or seizure orders to move funds between internal accounts,
weakening any attempt at enforcement.
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Investigators cite forensic traces connecting Binance
activity to accounts in Gaza, Lebanon, Venezuela, and even North Dakota, where
the suit alleges a Hamas-linked account accessed the platform several times
from a small town near Fargo.
Zhao’s Legal History Adds Context to the Case
Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to
violating the Bank Secrecy Act after U.S. regulators accused Binance of running
an unlicensed money-transmitting business and failing to maintain
anti-money-laundering controls.
He served four months in federal prison before
receiving a presidential pardon last month. The exchange itself paid more than
$4 billion in penalties as part of its settlement with U.S. authorities.
The suit marks one of the most aggressive legal
challenges yet against a major crypto exchange over national-security concerns,
and it raises fresh questions about the industry’s ability to monitor
cross-border transactions as geopolitical risks rise.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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