Central Bank of Ireland fines Coinbase Europe $24,8 million for AML/CTF violations

Key points:

• The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe $24,8 million for AML and CTF violations identified between 2021 and 2025.
• The investigation found that more than 30 million transactions worth $203 billion were not properly monitored, creating risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Coinbase acknowledged deficiencies in its monitoring system and promised to strengthen its internal control and reporting procedures.

The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe Limited $24,8 million (€21,46 million) for violating anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) rules. The violations covered the period from April 2021 to March 2025 and concerned deficiencies in the transaction monitoring system under the Irish Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

Coinbase Europe is a subsidiary of the global platform Coinbase. It provides services for working with crypto assets and wallets to users around the world. As a virtual asset service provider, the company is required to monitor customer transactions and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Irish Revenue Commissioners.

Details of the investigation

According to the Central Bank, the investigation revealed more than 30 million transactions totaling over $203 billion that did not undergo proper control over 12 months. These transactions accounted for approximately 31% of all Coinbase Europe transactions during that period.

The company spent nearly three years conducting a retrospective analysis of these transactions and filed 2708 suspicious transaction reports (STRs). These reports mentioned possible cases of money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and exploitation of minors.

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Colm Kincaid noted that such violations create risks of financial institutions being used by criminal organizations. He emphasized that the anonymity and cross-border nature of cryptocurrencies make them a convenient tool for illegal transactions. He added:

“Crypto has particular technological features which, together with its anonymity-enhancing capabilities and cross-border nature, makes it especially attractive to criminals looking to move their funds. This is why it is especially important that firms engaged in crypto services have robust controls in place to identify and report suspicious transactions.”

Coinbase acknowledged violations, including improper monitoring of 30,44 million transactions, inadequate internal policies, and weak controls. In addition, the company failed to conduct additional verification of 184 790 transactions.