US Senator Cynthia Lummis has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to consider criminal charges against crypto exchange Binance and USDT issuer Tether. She believes the two companies have aided illicit fundraising for terror.
In a post on Twitter, Lummis states that she has sent a letter to the DOJ urging them to finish their investigation and consider criminal charges against Binance and Tether. The allegations stem from a Wall Street Journal report which claimed that several lawmakers believed Hamas had raised millions of dollars in crypto funding before their attacks on Israel earlier this month.
However, blockchain security and analytics firm Elliptic has responded with a blog post saying that the WSJ report “misrepresented” the data and there is “no evidence to suggest” that crypto fundraising resulted in the amount of money raised. Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong questioned whether the WSJ would issue a retraction or correction.
It remains to be seen whether the DOJ will act on Senator Lummis’ request.
