Irish Regulator Sanctions Coinbase Europe with Reprimand and €21.5M Fine for Pervasive AML Control Deficiencies

The Central Bank of Ireland has publicly reprimanded and fined Coinbase Europe Limited €21,464,734 for fundamental failures in its anti-money laundering framework.

The sanction addresses the firm’s failure to continuously monitor transactions as required by the Criminal Justice Act 2010. Specifically, a misconfigured system left a staggering €176 billion in transactions unscrutinized, directly leading to a backlog of 2,708 overdue suspicious transaction reports.

These reports concerned the most severe illicit activities, including terrorist financing and child sexual exploitation.

The firm admitted to the breaches, agreeing to a settlement that reduced an original €30.7 million penalty by 30%. The decision is now pending confirmation by the High Court.