“Unmonitored” $203 Billion in Crypto Transactions Leads to $25M Fine for Coinbase in Ireland

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A critical failure in Coinbase Europe‘s monitoring systems allowed approximately €176 billion ($203 billion) in cryptocurrency transactions to go unmonitored for money laundering and terrorist financing, resulting in a €21.5 million fine from the Central Bank of Ireland.

The regulator revealed that the lapse, which affected nearly a third of the exchange’s transaction volume, lasted for a year.

It took Coinbase nearly three years to review the backlog, leading to the late filing of over 2,700 reports flagging potential crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, and child exploitation. The fine was settled after the firm admitted to the serious compliance failures.