- Coinbase is considering appealing a €3.3 million ($3.5 million) fine issued to it by the Dutch central bank
- The DNB fined Coinbase for operating for almost 18 months without having first registered with it
- Binance was hit with a similar fine last July
Coinbase is considering appealing a €3.3 million ($3.5 million) fine issued to it by the Dutch central bank for providing certain services without the proper authorization. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) imposed the fine on January 18, explaining that Coinbase should have registered with the bank in order to offer the services that it did, the same fine with which Binance was hit last July. According to reports, Coinbase is considering an appeal, and noted that the bank’s ruling contained no criticism of its actual services.
Dutch Bank Criticized “Severity and Degree” of Coinbase’s Actions
DNB stated its reason for issuing the fine was that in offering certain services without first registering with the bank, Coinbase was not compliant with Dutch rules – companies providing crypto-related services are required to register with DNB under the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act.
The bank said that the fine was increased “due to the severity and degree of culpability of the non-compliance,” adding:
In increasing the fine, DNB took into account the fact that Coinbase is one of the largest crypto service providers globally. Moreover, Coinbase has a significant number of customers in the Netherlands that make use of its crypto services.
It also took into consideration the fact that Coinbase operated without registration for almost 18 months, emphasizing it considered this a severe bout of non-compliance.
Coinbase told Reuters that it disagreed with the DNB’s decision, which it noted “includes no criticism of our actual services”, and added that it was considering an appeal.
The DNB was stung in 2021 when it lost a legal battle against exchange Bitonic for its strict interpretation of new regulations recommended by the Financial Action Task force.
