Crypto Terrorism Lawsuit

Crypto terrorism refers to the practice of using or facilitating cryptocurrency transactions to finance terrorist organizations. Cryptocurrency has several appealing qualities for terrorist groups because it is:

• Decentralized: People can create cryptocurrency through “mining,” a process of solving complex math problems with a computer. This means no single entity, like a government, controls its issuance and circulation.
• Digital: Before crypto, terror organizations used cash, banks and money service businesses to move funds around. But, cryptocurrencies are digital. This means that they can reach people in remote areas and avoid bank transactions.
• Private: The record of cryptocurrency transactions is anonymous. Even if a person’s virtual identity is made public, their real identities can still remain hidden.

These qualities can make it difficult to cut terrorists off from foreign funding. Terrorist groups can then trade their cryptocurrency for weapons, drugs and other illicit items.

Binance, Hamas and Hezbollah

One of the highest-profile stories of crypto terrorism involves the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and a group of terrorist organizations. Binance is accused of transferring over $1 billion to Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups.

Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. It is a popular vehicle for crypto-to-crypto trading and offers more than 350 currencies, including Bitcoin and Ether. The exchange has made its founder, Changpeng Zhao, one of the richest people in the world.

In 2024, Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for allowing money laundering on the exchange. Transactions that violated U.S. sanction laws included crypto trades with Hamas. In the lead-up to the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas received as much as $41 million in crypto.

A lawsuit against Binance alleges the exchange not only knew about transactions involving Hamas, but also covered them up. The U.S. requires crypto exchanges to flag suspicious transactions. The lawsuit accuses Binance of manipulating its reports to avoid scrutiny.

People are suing cryptocurrency companies for allowing terrorist groups to operate on their exchanges, thus funding deadly terrorist attacks. People harmed in these attacks and their family members may be eligible to file a lawsuit.

In November 2025, 300 U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit against Binance. The citizens are people hurt and the families of those killed during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. They allege transactions that occurred on Binance’s exchange aided Hamas and other terrorist groups.

People filing crypto terrorism lawsuits can seek compensation for expenses related to their injuries. This may include medical expenses, lost wages and more.

What laws help people seek justice from foreign sponsors of terrorism?

The U.S. has laws that allow people harmed in foreign terrorist attacks to seek compensation. Historically, our terrorism litigation has relied on the following laws to help victims of attacks get justice:

• Alien Tort Statute (ATS): The ATS gives U.S. courts the power to handle cases where a foreigner sues an entity that violated international law. It is codified as 28 U.S.C. § 1350.
• Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA): The ATA allows any U.S. national to sue for injuries resulting from foreign terrorist attacks. It is codified as 18 U.S.C. § 2333 et seq.

Motley Rice also advocates for better financial laws and regulations to help protect people from future attacks.

Our attorneys have decades of experience working for survivors of terrorist attacks and their families. This includes multiple cases working to hold third parties responsible for providing financial and material support to terrorists, including the Arab Bank and international hotels that have failed to protect guests.

Learn more about our work with terrorism victims here.