A U.S. federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed claims that cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), were linked to 64 terrorist attacks globally. The court found that plaintiffs failed to prove Binance knowingly supported these attacks.
The lawsuit, involving 535 plaintiffs who are victims and their families, alleged that Binance facilitated transactions for international terrorist groups. However, the court ruled that the claimed relationship was limited to accounts that transacted on the platform, not intentional collaboration.
Binance stated that it strongly opposes terrorism and argued that the plaintiffs were using a previous AML litigation against the exchange as justification for their terrorism lawsuit. That prior case involved a $4.32 billion penalty for violating U.S. anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws, not for supporting terrorism.
Following the ruling, Binance expressed satisfaction that the meritless claims were dismissed. Changpeng Zhao also commented on X, stating, "False news is temporary. Truth always comes with time," adding that there is no motive for centralized exchanges to engage with terrorist groups.