Crypto giant Coinbase fined in Ireland for rule breaches

Core Points - The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase €21.5 million ($24.7 million) for transaction monitoring failures linked to potential criminal activities [1][2] - The fine was imposed for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations from 2021 to 2025 [2] - Coinbase failed to monitor over 30 million transactions, totaling €176 billion, which represented approximately one-third of its transfers in Europe [3] - Some transactions, amounting to €13 million, are suspected to be associated with serious crimes such as child sexual exploitation and drug trafficking [4] - The initial fine was over €30 million but was reduced following an agreement with Coinbase [4] - Coinbase acknowledged "technical programming errors" that have since been corrected [4] - The crypto industry aims to improve its image and position itself as a legitimate alternative to traditional finance [4] - The deputy governor of the Central Bank highlighted the unique risks of crypto, including its anonymity and cross-border nature, which attract criminal activities [5]