Israeli authorities have frozen Hamas-linked crypto accounts: report
Quick Take
- Israeli authorities have frozen cryptocurrency accounts linked to Hamas, according to a report.
- Binance reportedly assisted the Israeli police in their efforts to shut down the Hamas-linked accounts.
Israeli authorities have frozen cryptocurrency accounts used by Hamas for its fundraising efforts, according to a report.
Tel Aviv-based news outlet Calcalist described a joint effort by cybercrime and counterterrorism units from the Israeli police and the nation's Defence Ministry to freeze the Hamas-linked accounts.
Calcalist reported that Israel's Lahav 433 police cyber unit announced on Tuesday that Binance had also assisted in shutting down the Hamas-linked accounts.
"With the outbreak of war, Hamas launched a fundraising campaign on social networks, asking the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into its account. The cyber unit acted immediately to locate and freeze the accounts, with the assistance of the Binance crypto exchange, in order to forfeit the funds to the state coffers," the police statement said.
It was reported that Hamas has been using cryptocurrency accounts to raise donations on social media platforms since Saturday.
This is not the first time the Israeli authorities have seized Hamas-linked cryptocurrency accounts. According to a Reuters report from April, Israeli authorities have seized 190 Binance accounts linked to Hamas and Isis since 2021.
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