Coinbase Europe Settles for €21.5 Million with the Central Bank of Ireland Due to Technical Oversights
Coinbase Europe Limited, a key subsidiary of the prominent US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, has brokered a notable settlement with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) following a series of technical compliance missteps.
The settlement entails a monetary compensation of $24.7 million, approximately €21.5 million, primarily addressing breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations during the period spanning 2021 to 2022.
Coinbase Europe Acknowledges Substantial AML Observance Failures
The exchange has conceded to encountering three critical coding faults that adversely affected its internal transaction monitoring framework.
Consequently, only a fraction—five out of twenty-one—of its monitoring scenarios effectively screened transactions for suspicious activities.
This oversight resulted in over 30 million transactions being inadequately monitored for an entire year, representing a staggering value exceeding EUR176 billion.
Coinbase Europe has further admitted to contravening significant transaction monitoring obligations and acknowledged its inadequacies in establishing robust internal controls necessary for detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
The firm recognized it should have conducted additional scrutiny of an estimated 184,790 transactions.
Initially, the CBI proposed a penalty exceeding 30.6 million euros; however, a thirty percent concession was granted under a settlement framework. The agreement was formalized on November 5th, 2025. While Coinbase Europe has consented to the reprimand and pecuniary penalty, the sanctions remain subject to ratification by the High Court.
Colm Kincaid, the Central Bank’s Deputy Governor, underscored the gravity of the compliance failures, noting that law enforcement relies heavily on regulated financial entities to monitor and report suspicious activities. He cautioned that such systemic failures create advantageous conditions for criminal enterprises.
Crypto assets inherently present distinctive challenges attributable to their technological attributes. Their potential for cross-border anonymity renders them particularly attractive to illicit actors. Therefore, it is imperative for firms offering crypto services to institute stringent controls expeditiously.
Coinbase Enhances Compliance Measures Amid Late Reporting of Transactions
The exhaustive review of the previously unmonitored transactions was a Herculean endeavor. Coinbase Europe required nearly three years to meticulously scrutinize all affected transactions.
This comprehensive review culminated in the submission of over 2,700 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) to regulatory authorities, each signifying potential criminal undertakings warranting further investigation.
The STRs surfaced suspicions tied to grave criminal activities, encompassing potential money laundering, various fraud and scam attempts, and cyber-assaults. Furthermore, there were alarming indications linked to drug trafficking and exploitative material related to child sexual abuse.
Coinbase publicly declared the identification of the issue through diligent internal assessments and rectified the coding deficiencies within weeks of discovery.
Since then, the firm has overhauled its testing protocols and fortified the monitoring capabilities of its Transaction Monitoring System, ensuring heightened vigilance against future errors.
Coinbase acknowledges the paramount importance of effective AML practices on a global scale.
Source link: Livebitcoinnews.com.
