The apex bank in Netherlands, identified as De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has slammed a $3.3 million fine on popular crypto exchange, Coinbase. The central bank announced the fine on the crypto exchange in its Thursday Twitter post. According to the announcement, it took the decision due to non-compliance of Coinbase with local regulations for financial service providers in the country.
The apex bank, otherwise known as DNB accused Coinbase of offering crypto services in Netherlands without registration. It cited the anti-money laundering and other anti-terrorist act which mandates companies wishing to provide crypto services in the country to register. This thus led to the slamming of the crypto exchange with a category fine. According to the DNB, the base amount for this fine category is €2 million with a minimum amount of €0 and a maximum amount of €4 million.
DNB applies general fine calculation policy to arrive at the administrative fine imposed on Coinbase
But, DNB said it applied its general fine calculation policy to arrive at the amount of the administrative fine. According to the apex bank, the severity of the non-compliance compelled its decision to increase the base amount of the fine on the crypto exchange. In an attempt to increase the fine from its statutory base, DNB reportedly considered the fact that Coinbase runs as one of the largest crypto service providers across the globe.
Also, the apex bank said it considered the significant number of customers in the country that use its crypto offerings. This is despite the fact that the exchange did not pay any supervisory fees to DNB. Additionally, De Nederlandsche Bank said its decision to increase the fine was also influenced by the fact that the non-compliance by Coinbase lingered over a prolonged period. According to findings, the exchange reportedly flouted the registration from November 2020 to August, 2022. This thus makes the non-compliance very severe.
Although the exchange has now complied by securing its registration in the country. According to reports, Coinbase obtained the registration with DNB last September. But, DNB believes that is not enough to save the exchange from incurring the fines. However, the fact that it has now registered was considered and thus led to a 5% reduction in the fine.
Coinbase struggling amid bear market
Worthy of note that Coinbase has not been on the good side of the news since the beginning of 2023. Recall that a few weeks ago, the exchange dismissed 20% of its workforce, amounting to about 950 employees. Justifying the layoff, the firm lamented the prevailing crypto winter, worsened by the FTX crisis. Regrettably, the latest layoff makes it the second massive layoffs by the exchange since the beginning of the bear market. A few days later, the exchange also halted its services in Japan. According to its CEO, Brian Armstrong, the tough decisions are geared towards saving costs by 25%.
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