Ireland’s central bank has fined Coinbase Europe €21.5 million ($25 million) for failing to properly monitor millions of transactions, including some connected to potential criminal activity.
30 Million Transactions Went Unchecked
According to the regulator, configuration errors in Coinbase’s transaction monitoring system led to more than 30 million transactions — worth over €176 billion — going unmonitored over a 12-month period. These included transactions linked to money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and child exploitation.
Authorities said it took Coinbase nearly three years to review the affected transactions, ultimately flagging 2,708 as suspicious.
Coinbase attributed the oversight to three coding errors that disrupted five of its 21 monitoring scenarios, preventing full screening of transactions during 2021 and 2022. The company stated that the issues were resolved within two to three weeks of discovery and that new safeguards have since been implemented to prevent similar incidents.
Fine Reduced Through Settlement
The central bank clarified that while approximately €13 million in transactions were flagged as suspicious, this does not confirm actual criminal activity.
The regulator initially proposed a €30.7 million fine, but the amount was reduced to €21.5 million under a settlement agreement and in light of Coinbase Europe’s average annual revenue of €417 million during the review period.
The case underscores regulators’ increasing focus on anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) compliance across the European crypto sector.
