The office of U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has announced that Senator Lummis and U.S. Representative French Hill (R-AR) have jointly sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a prompt investigation into Binance and Tether. In their letter, they alleged that these two cryptocurrency platforms have been utilized for funding Hamas and have a history of permitting illegal activities.

Senator Lummis, who is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, emphasized the importance of federal investigators taking action against wrongdoers in the cryptocurrency space. This call for investigation came in response to reports indicating that Hamas had used cryptocurrency assets to support their activities during the conflict in Israel. Senator Lummis also shared her perspective on this matter via the social media platform X.

The letter expresses concerns about unregulated cryptocurrency intermediaries operating outside the United States facilitating illicit financial activities, including support for Hamas. It calls on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge Binance according to its level of responsibility and expedite investigations into Tether's illicit activities.

It cites a Wall Street Journal article from October 10 reporting cryptocurrency funding for organizations like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah since August 2021. Despite potential inaccuracies in reported funding levels, the lawmakers emphasize the importance of holding facilitators of illicit activities accountable.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic recently clarified that there's no substantial evidence supporting claims of significant cryptocurrency donations to Hamas, stating that the provided data had been misinterpreted.

The letter also describes Binance as an unregulated cryptocurrency platform with operations in Seychelles and the Cayman Islands, noting its historical association with illicit activities and an ongoing DOJ investigation.

Senators Lummis and Hill assert that Tether knowingly enables violations of sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to conduct sufficient customer due diligence, despite awareness of its use in facilitating terrorism and illicit activities.