Binance and CZ Walk Away From Terrorism Financing Claims – But Don’t Celebrate Yet

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Well, look at that! A US federal judge has dismissed the massive civil lawsuit against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao.

The lawsuit claimed that the crypto exchange helped finance 64 terrorist attacks worldwide. Yeah, really, 64. That’s a lot of terrorist attacks, if you’re counting. Who knew crypto could be so helpful in global terrorism?

The Court’s Big “Nope” to the Idea That Binance Was Funding Terrorists

But, guess what? US District Judge Jeannette Vargas decided that the 535 plaintiffs couldn’t convincingly argue that Binance and Zhao were directly responsible for all that violence. Apparently, just having an account on Binance doesn’t make you a terrorist financier. Who would’ve thought?

Sure, some terrorist groups might have used the platform. But holding an account? Not enough evidence to tie them to the attacks. Maybe it’s not as simple as “just open an account and fund global chaos.” But hey, what do I know?

The judge’s ruling dismissing the 891-page complaint is a win for Binance, though let’s not get too carried away. This isn’t exactly a “mission accomplished” moment. After all, Binance has admitted to some past failures, so let’s just say, this victory comes with a small asterisk.

Remember last year, when Binance agreed to fork over $4.3 billion to the US Department of Justice? Yeah, that happened. Zhao even pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations. They were a bit lax on blocking transactions linked to Hamas and Iran. Whoops, right?

So, using those past admissions, the plaintiffs tried to score big by dragging Binance into the Anti-Terrorism Act. They claimed that Hamas and Hezbollah were moving millions of dollars around between 2017 and 2024 through Binance. A real logistical operation, if you ask me. But apparently, not quite the smoking gun.

After the ruling, Zhao’s attorney, Teresa Goody Guillén, had this to say:

“The Court threw out every one of the Plaintiffs’ meritless claims, finding that they utterly failed to tie Mr. Zhao or Binance to financing any terrorist act. We are pleased that the Court recognized the lack of credibility in the claims,” she said. Oh, Teresa, what a relief!

Binance also jumped on social media to rub it in, tweeting:

“We are pleased to see that the court in this case correctly dismissed these meritless claims. As we explained to Senator Blumenthal in our letter today, Binance takes compliance seriously and has no tolerance for bad actors on its platform.” – Binance (@binance) March 6, 2026

The Scrutiny That Won’t Go Away

So, Binance wins this round, but don’t break out the champagne just yet. The scrutiny isn’t over. The US government is still keeping an eye on Binance. Why? Oh, just some small allegations involving $1.7 billion in transfers linked to Iran. No biggie. It’s just a casual billion-dollar transfer situation, right?

But Binance isn’t exactly taking it lying down. They’ve put their foot down, saying they’re serious about following the rules, especially when it comes to Iran. Apparently, they have rigorous compliance programs, like enhanced geolocation controls to prevent anyone from pretending they’re not in Iran. How high-tech!

“Binance has a rigorous and continuously improving compliance program, including strict KYC procedures and a prohibition on users residing in Iran. Binance has enhanced geolocation controls and actively combats VPN circumvention to enforce user eligibility and compliance,” the company proudly explained. Well, alright then!

Binance is also touting the millions of dollars they’ve thrown at compliance, employing over 1,500 specialists. But really, it’s probably more impressive when they say they’ve reduced exposure to wallets linked to bad behavior by 97%. That’s a decent percentage. Good job, guys, you’re almost perfect!

And just to make sure no one forgets, Binance claims to have helped law enforcement seize a whopping $752 million in illicit assets this year alone. Not bad. They might just be turning a new leaf-or at least they want us to think so.

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2026-03-07 15:32