U.S. families of Hamas attack victims file class action lawsuit against Binance

Families of roughly 300 United States citizens killed or injured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel have filed a lawsuit alleging that Binance facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transfers for Hamas and other sanctioned groups.

The complaint, filed in federal court in North Dakota on Nov. 24, claims Binance “pitched itself to terrorist organizations, narcotics traffickers and tax evaders as beyond the reach of any single country’s laws or regulations,” ignoring compliance-vendor warnings and failing to conduct basic checks on suspicious flows.

The families seek damages under a 2016 US law that allows victims of terrorism to sue foreign entities in American courts.

Related: Fresh out of prison, Binance's Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao plans to invest in blockchain

Lawsuit says Binance moved about $50M for Hamas and others

According to the 284-page filing, Binance continued enabling brokers in the Gaza Strip as recently as January 2025.

Plaintiffs claim the exchange knowingly facilitated at least $50 million in transfers for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other entities since the Oct. 7 attack.

“This was not a compliance lapse; it was a business model,” said attorney Jonathan Missner, who represents a portion of the more than 70 families named in the suit, as reported by The New York Times.

He argued that Binance deliberately built systems “designed to evade oversight,” including off-chain transfers and weak monitoring controls.

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Binance responds to lawsuit

In a statement shared with TheStreet Roundtable, Binance said it cannot comment on ongoing litigation but rejected the allegations, stating:

“Binance has become aware of a complaint filed in the United States federal court. We cannot comment on any ongoing litigation. As a global crypto exchange, we comply fully with internationally recognized sanctions laws. Over the past several years, Binance has executed a wide-ranging transformation of our compliance, AML, and sanctions framework.”

The spokesperson highlighted independent analytics showing “less than 0.02%” of 2025 platform flows linked to illicit activity.

They added that Binance has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” into compliance and expanded its sanctions and AML workforce to more than 1,280 specialists.

Related: Are Ordinary Americans the 'Real Losers' of the SEC Lawsuits Against Coinbase and Binance?

Lawsuit follows Trump’s pardon of Binance founder

The lawsuit arrived one month after U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Zhao was accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of operating an unregistered exchange, failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls, and permitting illicit flows tied to sanctioned jurisdictions, including Iran and Russia.

Regulatory action against Binance escalated throughout 2023 and 2024. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the exchange in June 2023 for alleged unregistered securities sales and unregistered exchange operations.

The DOJ’s November 2023 case led to Zhao’s resignation as CEO and a $50 million personal fine.

Zhao served a four-month federal sentence before returning to Dubai in late 2024.

After receiving the pardon on Oct. 23, he thanked Trump for “upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice” and said he aimed to help the US become a global crypto hub.

Related: Binance ex-CEO responds to reports linking him to Trump pardon deal

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Nov 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the Policy section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.