Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been fined €21.5 million by the Central Bank of Ireland for significant breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) regulations. The violations occurred between April 2021 and March 2025, during which time Coinbase Europe failed to properly monitor over 30 million transactions, affecting transactions worth more than €176 billion—about 31% of its total activity in the period.

The Central Bank found that Coinbase Europe did not have adequate internal policies, controls, or procedures to detect and prevent money laundering or terrorist financing. This failure led to delays in identifying suspicious activities and resulted in almost three years passing before all affected transactions were fully reviewed. The subsequent reviews led to the filing of over 2,700 Suspicious Transaction Reports, linked to suspected offenses including money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and child exploitation.

Officials stressed that the technologically complex and often anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies makes robust oversight especially crucial. The delayed detection and reporting, they noted, undermined the effectiveness of Ireland’s efforts to combat financial crime and allowed opportunities for illegal activity to go undetected.

Coinbase Europe admitted the failures and accepted the fine and reprimand. The penalty, which is the highest of its kind related to anti-money laundering in Ireland, was reduced by 30% as part of a settlement scheme. The measures will be finalized following confirmation by the High Court. This enforcement underscores regulatory expectations for cryptocurrency platforms and the consequences of lapses in transaction monitoring and compliance controls.

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