Cryptocurrency: Coinbase slapped with $3.6M fine in the Netherlands over registration issue

Coinbase crypto company was fined in the Netherlands by the country’s regulator. The company will have to pay €3.3 million or about a $3.6 million penalty for offering crypto services without proper registration.

Coinbase breached Dutch law by failing to properly register its crypto firm before providing services in the region. It was the country’s central bank, the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), that imposed the fine on the US-based cryptocurrency exchange.

The bank said that Coinbase did not comply with local regulations when it provided financial services. As per CoinTelegraph, it failed to get the required registration before starting its operations in the Netherlands.

Prior to making the decision to fine Coinbase, the DNB revealed it also considered the size of Coinbase as a company. In addition, it also took into account the huge number of its users in the region. The bank’s penalty was for the company’s non-compliance for the period of November 2020 to August 2022.

CoinDesk reported that Dutch law requires all crypto exchange and service providers to register under anti-money laundering and terrorist financing norms before operating in the country.

It was said that Coinbase did not agree with the Dutch central bank’s enforcement order, so it is carefully considering the objections and process for appeals. The company has been given until March 2 to object to DNB’s administrative penalty.

"The base amount of the fine has been increased due to the severity and degree of culpability of the non-compliance," the DNB stated regarding the fine on Coinbase. In response, the crypto firm said that the order "is based on the time it took for Coinbase to obtain our registration in the Netherlands and includes no criticism of our actual services," thus, “we should not be penalized for playing by the rules and engaging in this process."

The company further reiterated that it is committed to compliance in all jurisdictions in which it operates and will continue to provide safe, trusted services to new and existing Dutch clients.

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