Hamas Military Wing Advises Donors to Bypass Binance in Crypto Transfers, DOJ Documents Reveal

U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) documents disclose that the Al‑Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued guidance to potential donors on how to transfer cryptocurrency donations while avoiding the Binance platform.

Preferred transfer method

The letter, included in a DoJ asset‑forfeiture filing, recommends using the Tether USDT stablecoin on the TRC‑20 network of the TRON blockchain. Donors are instructed to send funds to an external TRON wallet address, which is not identified as belonging to any of the listed platforms.

Suggested applications

Instead of Binance, the group lists several applications that donors may employ for the transfer:

• Trust Wallet
• Bybit
• OKX
• Kast
• Redotpay

The guidance notes that Binance can be used only to purchase currencies, after which another application should complete the transfer.

Implications for compliance

The inclusion of these platforms does not imply weaknesses in their know‑your‑customer (KYC) or anti‑money‑laundering (AML) controls. Each company has stated that it employs extensive compliance measures, including sanctions screening and transaction monitoring.

Broader context

Crypto assets, particularly stablecoins, continue to be used by sanctioned groups to move funds across borders. U.S. Treasury assessments note that groups such as Hamas and ISIS have leveraged digital assets for donations, though traditional financial channels remain the primary method.

U.S. authorities have intensified counter‑terrorist financing efforts following the October 7 2023 attacks in Israel, including investigations into cryptocurrency transactions linked to Hamas.