Airdrop Army

In an eye-opening disclosure at the Messari Mainnet conference, Binance made it clear: they don’t just hit the “freeze” button when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) come knocking. Nils Anderson Röed, Binance’s global head of financial investigations, said the crypto exchange conducts its own due diligence on requests before taking action.

“We don’t just rely on one single source, or one single tool,” Röed said. His team doesn’t simply rubber-stamp IDF requests, even when they come in hot, involving potentially illicit wallets tied to Palestinian users.

220 Wallets Blocked, Not 1,500

This approach became especially critical when Binance CEO Richard Teng faced down rumors in late August. People were saying Binance had frozen all Palestinian wallets at the IDF’s behest, but Teng shut that down quickly. Turns out, the IDF requested over 1,500 Palestinian wallets be seized, but only around 220 made the cut. That’s roughly 14%—meaning a whopping 86% of the wallets didn’t raise enough red flags for Binance’s investigative squad.

So how do they sort the bad actors from the good? Röed and his crew run their own independent research using open-source intelligence, parallel to what the IDF or other governments provide. When conflicts come up, like the IDF labeling a wallet as funding terrorism, Binance might have evidence to suggest it’s tied to a charity instead.

Cross-Checking Wallet Seizures

For Röed, it’s a balancing act. He consults with Binance’s legal experts and goes back to law enforcement if there’s a clash over what counts as illicit. Binance aims to stay in line with international law but won’t blindly freeze assets because of requests that might be murky.

These investigations are no walk in the park, especially in regions like the Middle East. Binance has beefed up its resources to deal with such sensitive issues. Röed, who’s got a background hunting down dark web criminals with Europol, says they’re stepping up the game.

“We’re doing a lot of additional checks,” he said, underlining Binance’s cautious strategy in navigating politically charged crypto waters.