Key Takeaways
Who filed the case?
306 victims and family members filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Fargo, North Dakota.
What evidence are the families presenting?
Accounts allegedly tied to militants, Hamas-linked money exchanges, Hezbollah networks, gold-smuggling routes, and crypto transfers through Venezuela and Brazil.
Binance is back in the headlines. And now, it is facing a far more unsettling controversy.
CZ and Binance under scrutiny
Families of those killed, injured, or kidnapped during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel have filed a sweeping lawsuit against Binance. They have accused the world’s largest crypto exchange and its founder Changpeng Zhao of enabling more than $1 billion to flow to terrorist groups tied to the assault.
Filed in federal court in Fargo, North Dakota, the case represents 306 victims and family members who allege that Binance [BNB] and senior executive Guangying “Heina” Chen played a direct role in facilitating the financial networks behind the attacks.
The lawsuit also claims Binance’s misconduct far exceeded what was revealed in its 2023 DOJ settlement. At the time, the exchange admitted to money-laundering failures, paid over $4 billion in fines, and saw former CEO Changpeng Zhao serve a short prison term.
On what grounds is Binance responsible for this?
The 300-page filing alleges Binance knowingly moved more than $1 billion through accounts linked to Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Iran’s IRGC – Groups tied to the 7 October attack.
According to lawyers, the platform was effectively built as a global money-laundering engine. The suit also detailed several accounts reportedly connected to militants and their networks.
These include an account belonging to the son of a senior Hezbollah commander and multiple accounts tied to Hamas-linked money exchanges in Gaza – Including one opened by a PIJ member in 2020.
The complaint further outlined a wider laundering network involving Hezbollah funds, gold-smuggling routes, and crypto transfers through criminal groups in Venezuela and Brazil, with one alleged participant moving more than $40 million through a single account.
Authorities weighing in on the matter
Remarking on the same, Jonathan Missner, Managing Partner of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, said,
“This platform became a conduit for financing murder, kidnappings, and rocket attacks. The families deserve justice—and the public deserves transparency.”
Additionally, former Bill Clinton and George W. Bush White House official Lee Wolosky, now of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, said in a statement,
“The lawsuit details how Binance knowingly facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars that helped enable those responsible for the atrocities of October 7. When a company chooses profit over even the most basic counter-terrorism obligations, it must be held accountable — and it will be.”
CZ’s Trump pardon and more
The aforementioned suit comes shortly after former President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, erasing his previous conviction.
Right now, the pardon had cleared the way for Binance’s return to U.S markets. This is a move Zhao admitted he didn’t expect so soon, saying that even he was “a little bit surprised” by the decision.