Oct. 7 Hamas Attack Victims Sue Binance for Damages

Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, as well as Binance executive Guangying Chen, are facing a U.S. lawsuit filed by victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel seeking damages the plaintiffs allege stemmed from the crypto exchange facilitating payments to the terror group in the lead up to the attack.

Filed in North Dakota by American victims of the attack, the complaint claims Binance processed more than $1 billion for Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including around $50 million after October 7. The lawsuit argues Binance’s lax controls effectively allowed terrorist groups to move funds through the platform, which directly contributed to the attacks.

The underlying failures are not new. The filing comes two years after CZ and Binance both pleaded guilty for breaking sanctions and money-transmitting laws, resulting in a $4.3 billion settlement. As part of the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and Treasury, Binance admitted it had failed to report transactions involving Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades and other sanctioned entities and operated with inadequate anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls.

Those admissions could give plaintiffs more leverage, but the company has already faced criminal penalties for the misconduct now being cited in civil court.

Meanwhile, blockchain analytics firms caution that the sums attributed to Hamas are often overstated. Chainalysis and Elliptic say confirmed Hamas crypto fundraising amounts to low millions, and that lawsuits frequently conflate all activity flowing through intermediaries with funds controlled by militant groups.

The new case lands days after an ICIJ investigation alleged Binance still has not fully implemented required compliance reforms even after the DOJ settlement, a finding likely to surface as litigation progresses.

"Binance has become aware of a complaint filed in the United States federal court. We cannot comment on any ongoing litigation,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk in an email.