Israeli police, in collaboration with Binance, have reportedly frozen cryptocurrency accounts associated with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, following a series of attacks by Hamas on Israel.
The operation involved Israel Police’s Lahav 433 unit, the defense ministry, intelligence agencies, and the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Funds seized from these accounts are said to be directed towards the Israeli national treasury. This move follows a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Commodities Futures and Trading Commission against Binance’s CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, accusing the firm of having knowledge about “HAMAS transactions.”
This action is part of a broader initiative by Israeli authorities, who have previously seized approximately 190 Binance accounts with alleged ties to terrorist groups since 2021.
Meanwhile, as tensions in the Middle East intensified, cryptocurrency traders experienced staggering losses exceeding $100 million in liquidations during Monday’s market downturn. According to CoinGlass data, more than $105 million worth of long positions—bets on price increases—were obliterated in a single day, marking the most substantial long liquidations since September 11.
The market slump was triggered by the deepening conflict between Israel and Hamas, unsettling investors and impacting risk assets.
Bitcoin (BTC) witnessed a decline of over 2%, temporarily dropping to $27,600. Ether (ETH) saw a nearly 5% slide, while major cryptocurrencies such as solana (SOL), Polygon’s native token (MATIC), and Polkadot’s (DOT) experienced declines ranging from 6% to 7%, followed by partial rebounds.
Liquidations occur when leveraged trading positions are forcibly closed by exchanges due to a trader’s inability to meet margin requirements or sustain the position.
