A document from the Al-Qassam Brigades appears in its entirety inside a Department of Justice asset forfeiture filing dated September 9.
The organization suggests leveraging Tether’s USDT stablecoin alongside the TRC-20 network, which is utilized for generating and handling fungible tokens on the Tron blockchain.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, functioning as the military branch of Hamas, advised potential contributors that they would prefer avoiding Binance for transferring assets to the militant faction’s digital wallet, according to documentation published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).
Instead, the communication outlined Trust Wallet, Bybit, OKX, Kast, and Redotpay as platforms supporters could employ for routing assets toward an external TRON wallet. The destination address gathering these contributions was an external TRON blockchain location and was not identified within the legal filing as belonging to any of those specific platforms.
The Al-Qassam Brigades correspondence, featured completely within a DoJ asset-seizure warrant, recommended utilizing Tether’s USDT stablecoin together with the TRC-20 network, which is applied in issuing and administering fungible tokens across the Tron distributed ledger.
The Al-Qassam Brigades stated in the message, “It is preferable not to use the ‘BINANCE’ platform to transfer support; and not to enter any data indicating our official name so that your wallet is not blocked and for your safety as well (entering any fictitious data as the recipient of the transfer); You can transfer through the application: trust wallet, RedotPay, OKX, Kast, BYBIT….”
The armed faction indicated that Binance “can be used to purchase currencies only, then use another application to complete the transfer process.”
This instruction presented an uncommon view into how a blacklisted militant group directed prospective donors in moving cryptocurrencies while seeking to safeguard their identities.
Nevertheless, the inclusion of these entities in the message does not automatically imply that these corporations possess deficient know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) standards, given that major cryptocurrency exchanges and prominent stablecoins serve a broad spectrum of functions.
Illicit activity
Digital assets have emerged as one of various conduits employed by sanctioned entities and other bad actors to transfer capital internationally, particularly via stablecoins—digital currencies engineered to preserve a steady valuation by being anchored to a reserve asset like the U.S. dollar—and digital wallets.
The U.S. Treasury reported within its 2026 terrorist-financing risk evaluation that factions including Hamas and ISIS have persisted in utilizing digital assets for contributions and transactions. Still, it pointed out that conventional financial instruments and offerings remain the preferred vehicle for terrorists to shift funds.
The United States redirected its counterterrorism financing initiatives regarding Hamas, especially following the October 7, 2023, strikes against Israel carried out by the extremist organization.
Hamas reportedly solicited cryptocurrency contributions, though the magnitude and success rates of these campaigns remain uncertain. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 10, 2023, that cryptocurrency wallets linked to Hamas secured roughly $41 million spanning the period from 2020 through 2023.
The publication later stated that the Treasury department is examining $165 million in cryptocurrency-associated transactions that may have assisted in funding Hamas prior to the October 2023 assaults.
Although the files indicated that Binance might have enhanced its KYC and AML frameworks, it remains unclear whether the Hamas directive represents a reaction to this.
Binance chief compliance officer Noah Perlman remarked, “When terrorist groups tell people to avoid Binance, it shows our controls are working. Binance is not a safe place for illicit actors. We invest heavily in sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and investigations, and we work closely with law enforcement to identify, disrupt and report terrorist financing and other financial crime.”
According to OKX, the wallet destination referenced in the communication from February 10, 2025, shared no connection with OKX and had already been flagged by its internal safeguards as tied to unauthorized behavior. Consequently, any attempts by OKX users to route capital to that address would have been detected and blocked, the platform clarified via email.
Kast noted that it sustains a dedicated financial crime compliance division, comprising over 50 personnel throughout its wider compliance structure.
A Kast representative stated via email, “All customers are subject to identity verification and screening before accessing our services. The company combines its own technology with established compliance and risk-management providers, including Elliptic, Sumsub, and Sardine, to support sanctions screening, customer due diligence, and transaction monitoring.”
Bybit chose not to provide a statement. Redotpay did not reply to inquiries for commentary prior to publication.
Read more: Binance Sued by Oct. 7 Hamas Attack Victims
UPDATE: (Sept. 16, 4:02 PM ET): Changes headline, sub-head and 2nd paragraph to clarify that the militant group instructed its potential donors to use applications to send funds to an external wallet, not owned by the platforms.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/16/hamas-military-wing-told-donors-to-avoid-binance-use-bybit-okx-and-others-instead.
