Hamas’ military wing told donors to avoid Binance. Use Bybit, OKX and others instead
Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, instructed donors to shift cryptocurrency contributions away from Binance and toward alternative exchanges including Bybit and OKX, according to a report by CoinDesk published in September 2026. The guidance, reportedly circulated among the group's donor networks, suggests that Hamas operatives identified Binance as a platform increasingly likely to freeze or flag suspicious transactions linked to the organization.
The shift reflects an ongoing cat-and-mouse dynamic between militant financing networks and cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance has faced sustained regulatory scrutiny in recent years, including a landmark 2023 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in which the exchange paid approximately $4.3 billion in penalties and committed to enhanced compliance measures. Those measures appear to have made Binance a less attractive channel for illicit fund flows, pushing bad actors toward platforms perceived as having less rigorous anti-money laundering controls.
The development raises fresh questions about the compliance posture of Bybit, OKX, and other named exchanges. Regulators and blockchain analytics firms are likely to increase scrutiny of transaction flows on those platforms, potentially accelerating pressure on them to tighten know-your-customer and sanctions screening protocols. The episode also underscores the persistent challenge facing the broader digital asset industry in preventing exploitation by sanctioned entities.
Analysts and compliance observers will be watching whether U.S. and international regulators formally engage the named exchanges in the coming weeks.
Source: CoinDesk
