Dutch Central Bank Imposes a $3.5M Penalty on Coinbase for Non-Compliance

The Dutch central bank has alleged that Coinbase’s European branch has been operating in the Netherlands despite failing to meet registration prerequisites. As a result, the central bank wants the crypto exchange to pay penalties amounting to over $3.5 million.

In a statement, the regulator noted that from November 2020 to August 2022, Coinbase operated while unregistered. Even though the exchange did get registered last September, the central bank says Coinbase enjoyed a competitive advantage since it previously didn’t pay supervisory fees.

Every firm seeking to offer crypto services in the Netherlands has to register with the country’s central bank under the Anti-Terrorist Financing and Anti-Money Laundering Act. Meanwhile, a Coinbase spokesperson reported that the exchange disagrees with the bank’s fine.

Coinbase Objects to Dutch Central Bank’s Fine

The spokesperson said that despite Coinbase operating while unregistered, the firm never stopped attempting to obtain registration papers. They added that the exchange shouldn’t be penalized because its services have never been criticized, and it has continued to play by the rules.

Initially, the Dutch central bank demanded Coinbase pay a fine worth $2.18, but it later increased the figure due to the magnitude of the non-compliance. In addition, the penalty was also raised because of the size of Coinbase and its large number of dutch customers.

However, the Dutch central bank reduced the penalty fee by 5% as it noted that the crypto exchange had begun the process of completing registration. The Coinbase spokesperson said that the firm respects the bank’s effort in enforcing regulations but was considering challenging the bank’s fine in court.

Dutch Central Bank Imposes Similar Penalty on Binance

Previously, the central bank had imposed a $3.3 million fine on Binance for providing its services in the Netherlands without a proper license. At that time, the regulator cited that Binance had violated the registration policies from May 2020 to December 2021.

Following the news, Coinbase stock is currently trading at $52.77, representing a drop of 1.51%, according to data on TradingView. In addition, the exchange’s 24-hour trading volume sits at $1,986,8278,263, as per CoinMarketCap.

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