The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is apparently threatened with a lawsuit, as the latest headlines on our DC Forecasts crypto news site show. The Israeli civil rights NGO Shurat HaDin is the organization that threatens Coinbase over allowing Hamas to fundraise via the platform – more specifically – via Bitcoin donations.
Right now, Shurat HaDin wants Coinbase to stop offering its services to the Palestinian fundamelist organization Hamas. The United States which is the place where Coinbase is headquartered, sees Hamas as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’.
Coinbase has received the warning in a letter by the NGO, which cites:
“It has recently come to our attention that the notorious Palestinian terrorist group Hamas currently maintains an account with Coinbase, Inc. (“Coinbase”), through which it is accepting donations. Therefore, I am writing to notify Coinbase that knowingly providing material support or resources to Hamas is a violation of U.S. federal criminal law, and to demand that Coinbase immediately terminate any and all accounts and services provided to Hamas.”
According to Coinbase’s Terms of Service (ToS), Hamas may have breached the user agreement and “engaged in acts of terror”. Still, while no terrorist threat should be ignored, this might seem like an overreaction on Israel Law Center’s part.
However, several reports have so far confirmed that there is very low usage of cryptocurrencies in financing terrorism. The EU Agency for Law Enforcement (Europol) confirmed this last year in a report, where it disclosed that none of the recent terror attacks had been funded or linked to cryptocurrencies.
DC Forecasts is a leader in many crypto news categories, striving for the highest journalistic standards and abiding by a strict set of editorial policies. If you are interested to offer your expertise or contribute to our news website, feel free to contact us at [email protected]
Discussion about this post