Binance Aids Tajikistan’s Efforts to Combat the Financing of Terrorism Against an Islamic State Affiliate

2023-08-25

Main Takeaways

  • Binance, in collaboration with the Financial Monitoring Department under the National Bank of Tajikistan and TRM Labs, played an active role in an effort that led to the arrest of multiple key members of the terrorist group, Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP).

  • Binance's strong track record in addressing major security threats and crimes showcases its dedication to fostering close collaboration with global law enforcement agencies and regulators to safeguard the crypto ecosystem and fight financial crime.

Here at Binance, we are proud to play an active role in global counterterrorism and security efforts. Recently, our Sanctions Investigations and Compliance teams contributed to the successful arrests of multiple individuals linked to Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), a regional affiliate of the militant group Islamic State, including the group’s ranking member Shamil Hukumatov. These ISKP members were actively involved in imminent attack planning, and their arrests are regarded as a huge win for counterterrorism efforts both regionally and globally. 

Binance has been working hand-in-hand with the Financial Monitoring Department under the National Bank of Tajikistan and blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs since December 2022 to counter the multi-regional threat posed by ISKP. Law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Tajikistan, especially the State Committee for National Security, were also involved in this complex case.

The teams at Binance were pivotal in identifying, locating and sharing intelligence that ultimately led to key members of the terrorist group being arrested. We also received dedicated assistance from TRM Labs, who contributed to much of the intelligence, tracing, analytics, and investigative work. This case is just one part of Binance’s ongoing collaboration with TRM Labs to identify global terrorism financing networks that stretch from Syria to Central Asia and beyond. 

The Binance Sanctions Investigations team received recognition from the National Bank of Tajikistan for its collaboration and strategic assistance.

A spokesperson for the Financial Monitoring Department commented: “The National Bank of Tajikistan is committed to doing its part to further national and global security on all fronts, including counterterrorism. Over the past months, our counterterrorism efforts have been facilitated by the proactive intelligence sharing and investigative support provided by investigations experts on the Binance team. This led to successful arrests of key ISKP members that we’ve been targeting for a while now. We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with industry players within crypto, including Binance, to combat criminal activities and build a safer cybersecurity space in the region.”

Binance’s Sanctions Investigations team is proud to have been able to support Tajikistan’s counterterrorism efforts, and we are heartened to know that the teams’ hard work resulted in the successful arrests of multiple key members of a terrorist group. This victory adds to Binance’s strong track record of proactively assisting law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units, and industry players in thwarting bad actors.

Building Collaborative Security

We believe that effective security is collaborative. Binance will continue to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement, financial intelligence units, and industry peers to make the global blockchain ecosystem safer and more secure.

We recognize that we have an immense responsibility as an industry leader to safeguard the global crypto ecosystem and its users from bad actors. We’ve built and maintained the industry’s most robust investigations task force as part of our push to make sure that the space is safe for everyone. This, coupled with our unwavering commitment to fostering close collaboration with law enforcement agencies and regulators worldwide, has allowed us to remain at the forefront of fighting financial cybercrime globally.

Binance has been instrumental in addressing a number of significant security threats and major crimes including terrorist financing, child sexual abuse material distribution, nation-state hacking, intellectual property theft, narcotics smuggling, and investment scams. Last year, Binance’s Investigations team responded to over 47,000 law enforcement requests with an average of three days response time, which is faster than any traditional financial institution.

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