Binance Rejects Majority of Israeli Military Requests to Freeze Palestinian Crypto Wallets
Binance has once again proven why it is one of the foremost crypto exchanges in the world. Arguably the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, the firm has made new headlines. However, this time, the reports have nothing to do with the number of transactions being carried out on the platform. Binance Stands Firm on Independent Investigations In a new revelation, Binance’s global head of financial crime investigations, Nils Anderson Röed, has said that the firm does not blindly comply with all requests from the Israeli military. That is, as it relates to freezing crypto wallets. Speaking at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York, Röed noted that Binance conducts its own investigations even after receiving such requests. This is to ensure that, in the long run, these requests do not flout international laws or abuse user rights. Röed’s claims echo similar ones from Binance CEO Richard Teng. In August, Teng was forced to address allegations that the exchange froze all Palestinian crypto wallets that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) asked it to. At the time, Teng also claimed that, although Binance received over 1,500 requests, internal investigations found only about 220 wallets connected to such illicit activities. This represented just 14% of the total, and the firm would leave the rest untouched as there was no sufficient evidence to justify any freeze. According to Röed, Binance takes the additional checks very seriously, relying on multiple sources of intelligence to make critical decisions on whether or not a wallet is tied to illegal activity. The head of financial crime investigations said: “We don’t just rely on one single source or tool. We’re doing a lot of additional checks, especially with these kinds of very sensitive issues.” 86% of Requests Rejected Röed confirms that his financial investigations team rejected 86% of the wallet freeze requests they recently received from the Israeli military. The reasons are none other than the fact that there is insufficient evidence to support the claims. Binance says it pays huge attention to user rights. More so, in regions like the Middle East, where it commits a reasonable amount of resources to ensure its operations are at maximum standard.
