Ireland Fines Coinbase Europe EUR 21 Million Over AML Violations
The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has imposed a EUR 21.5 million penalty on Coinbase Europe for serious violations of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing (AML/CTF) regulations. This is the first case of its kind against a cryptocurrency service provider in Ireland.
Details of the Breach
Between April 2021 and March 2023, Coinbase Europe failed to monitor over 30 million transactions valued at approximately EUR 176 billion. The oversight reportedly stemmed from coding errors in its transaction-monitoring system, leaving almost one-third of its activities unexamined for suspicious patterns.
“The crypto-trading platform blamed coding errors for its failure to monitor more than 30 million transactions.”
Regulator’s Findings
The CBI reported that about 31% of Coinbase Europe’s overall transaction volume during the specified period went unchecked. A later review flagged transactions worth EUR 13 million as potentially suspicious, possibly linked to money laundering, scams, child exploitation, and other crimes. However, the regulator stated it was unable to confirm whether any of those transactions were tied to actual criminal acts.
Author’s summary: The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe EUR 21.5 million after uncovering that coding errors led to unmonitored crypto transactions worth billions, suspected of potential criminal links.