The judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not plausibly allege that Binance and Zhao “culpably associated themselves with these terrorist attacks, participated in them as something they wanted to bring about, or sought by their actions to ensure their success,” according to the report.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants transferred hundreds of millions of dollars of cryptocurrency to and from the terrorist groups and were liable for transactions that helped those groups conduct attacks, per the report.
The judge said the plaintiffs can amend their complaint, the report said.
Binance said in a Saturday (March 7) press release that the firm maintains compliance infrastructure, regulatory engagement and legal governance, and that the court’s ruling affirms that it does not support, facilitate or enable terrorism.
“This dismissal is a complete vindication of all false allegations,” Binance General Counsel Eleanor Hughes said in the release. “The court has unambiguously rejected the false and damaging narrative that Binance assisted terrorists. We have always maintained that these claims were without merit, and today’s ruling confirms that.”
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Zhao reposted a report about the court’s ruling Friday on social platform X, adding, “Truth always comes with time.”
“Adding some logic here,” Zhao wrote. “There are absolutely zero (0) motive for any CEX to have anything to do with terrorists. I imagine they don’t actively trade (no fee revenue). They may try to deposit and then immediately withdraw (these don’t generate any revenue either).”
It was reported in October 2023 that the attack on Israel by Hamas may have been funded in part by cryptocurrency. A review of Israeli government seizure orders and blockchain analytics reports revealed that Hamas and two other militant groups received money through digital currencies in the year leading up to the attack.
Binance agreed to a $4 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in November 2023 after being accused of violating the federal Bank Secrecy Act and of breaking sanctions on Iran. As part of that agreement, Zhao resigned from the company and pled guilty to violating money laundering rules.
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