A new lawsuit in the United States has placed Binance and its former chief Changpeng Zhao (CZ) back under the legal microscope.
Key Takeaways
Families of October 7 victims are suing Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao.
The complaint claims the exchange enabled crypto transfers to Hamas and other militant groups.
The case renews legal pressure on Binance despite past settlements and CZ’s pardon.
A prior New York ruling already found enough evidence to argue Binance aided the attackers.
Relatives of Israelis killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 argue that the world’s largest crypto exchange helped enable the tragedy — not by participating directly, but by allegedly allowing militant groups to move money freely through its platform.
According to the claim, hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency were transferred to Hamas, Hezbollah, and other sanctioned factions because Binance’s compliance systems were intentionally weakened. The plaintiffs say this wasn’t an accident or a technical failure — they accuse the exchange of choosing business expansion over enforcing anti-terror finance safeguards.
Plaintiffs Say Binance Enabled Hidden Transactions
Lawyers representing the families insist that Binance created space for covert transactions by avoiding certain regulatory controls and building internal pathways that made digital payments harder to trace. They also name senior executive Guangying “Heina” Chen alongside Zhao as responsible for decisions that allegedly allowed these transfers to occur without resistance.
One of the attorneys involved summarized the lawsuit bluntly: the victims believe Binance didn’t just overlook terrorism financing — they claim the company helped make it possible.
An Unwanted Spotlight for Changpeng Zhao
The lawsuit arrives at an awkward moment for CZ. After pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering violations in 2023 — followed by a presidential pardon this year — he had attempted to step away from regulatory controversies. But the new legal action revives scrutiny just when Binance thought the storm was beginning to clear.
Only months earlier: the U.S. SEC abandoned its civil case against Binance after nearly three years, and Binance asked the court to dismiss a $1.76 billion lawsuit filed by the FTX bankruptcy estate, calling the allegation baseless
Now, instead of fading from news cycles, Binance is again headlining global discussions on crypto accountability.
Crypto Misuse Extends Beyond a Single Attack
The complaint also attempts to paint a wider picture of cryptocurrency being exploited by criminal and militant networks across borders. It cites reports that Venezuelan organized groups are allegedly smuggling gold to Iran and using intermediaries to convert the proceeds into digital assets meant for militant financing.
Adding further weight, a separate case in a New York court recently concluded that plaintiffs provided enough evidence to argue that Binance assisted those behind the October 7 assault — a ruling that lawyers in the newest lawsuit now lean on to build momentum.
