US Lawmakers Urge DOJ to Slap Criminal Charges on Binance and Tether
Two US lawmakers have urged the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation against Binance and Tether. The lawmakers have alleged their involvement in financing terrorist activities, specifically referring to Hamas. “We urge the Department of Justice to carefully evaluate the extent to which Binance and Tether are providing material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act,” the lawmakers stated.
Lawmakers Push for Swift Action Against Binance and Tether
Senator Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming and US Representative French Hill sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) “to swiftly investigate Binance and Tether.” They alleged that the two crypto platforms have been used to fund Hamas and “have a history of allowing illegal activity.”
Senator Lummis is a distinguished member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Hill is chair of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets. Lummis insisted on “the need for federal investigators to crack down on bad actors in the crypto asset space after reports surfaced that showed Hamas used crypto assets to fund their war in Israel.” She shared on social media platform X on Thursday:
"When it comes to illicit finance, crypto is not the enemy; but bad actors. I sent a letter asking the DOJ to finish its investigation and consider criminal charges against Binance and Tether after reports of serving as intermediaries for Hamas and engaging in illicit activities."
The letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland details the involvement of unregulated crypto intermediaries, predominantly based outside the United States, in significant illicit finance activities.
“We write to you in light of shocking reports that unregulated, centralized crypto asset intermediaries based outside the United States have facilitated significant illicit finance activity over the last two years, including providing significant terrorism financing for Hamas’ malevolent attack.”
The lawmakers added: “We urge you and the Department of Justice to reach a charging decision on Binance that reflects their level of culpability and expeditiously conclude your investigations into the ongoing illicit activities involving Tether.”
The letter is about an article published by the Wall Street Journal on October 10, stating that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah have received crypto funding since August 2021. While the lawmakers acknowledge the potential inaccuracies in the funding figures reported in the article as “likely not accurate,” they said: “We believe it is nonetheless imperative that the Department of Justice hold bad actors accountable if they are shown to facilitate illicit activity.”
However, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic clarified that there is no evidence to support the assertion that Hamas has received significant volumes of crypto donations. The firm added that the data it provided “has been misinterpreted.”
Binance and Tether Under DOJ Scrutiny for Alleged Terrorist Links
The letter has described Binance as an unregulated crypto platform based in the Seychelles and the Cayman Islands that has “historically been linked to illicit activity,” noting that the firm is “purportedly the subject of a current Department of Justice investigation.”
Moreover, Lummis and Hill stated: “It is well-known that Tether is knowingly facilitating violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to conduct adequate customer due diligence and screenings despite being aware that its product is used to facilitate terrorism and other illicit activities.”
The lawmakers concluded, “We urge the Department of Justice to carefully evaluate the extent to which Binance and Tether are providing material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act,” adding:
"To that end, we strongly support swift action by the Department of Justice on Binance and Tether to choke off sources of funding for the terrorists currently targeting Israel."
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