The Central Bank of Ireland has fined Coinbase Europe Limited €21.46 million ($24.7 million) for serious failures in its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing monitoring between April 2021 and March 2025.
As a registered virtual asset service provider (VASP), Coinbase Europe must monitor customer transactions and report suspicious activity. However, the regulator found that a system error left over 30 million transactions worth around €176 billion ($203 billion) unmonitored for 12 months. The company later filed 2,708 delayed suspicious transaction reports related to possible money laundering, fraud, cyberattacks, and child exploitation.
The Central Bank said Coinbase also failed to perform enhanced checks on nearly 185,000 transactions. After a settlement on November 5, the fine was reduced by 30% to €21.5 million, pending High Court approval.
Deputy Governor Colm Kincaid warned that such lapses allow criminals to exploit financial systems, stressing the need for strong AML controls in crypto.
Coinbase said the issue stemmed from three coding errors that partially disabled its monitoring systems in 2021–2022. The firm said it fixed the problems within weeks, fully cooperated with regulators, and has since reinforced its oversight processes to ensure compliance and security.
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