Dutch Central Bank Slaps Crypto.com with $3.1M Fine for Operating Sans Registration

By: Isha Das

Crypto.com, the global online cryptocurrency platform, has been penalized with a $3.1 million (€2.85 million) fine by the Netherlands Central Bank. The imposing of the fine comes as a result of Crypto.com's business operations in the European nation for two years, without any required registration. The penalty, levied in the month of October 2023, primarily targets the Dutch trading entity of Crypto.com, Forix DAX Mt.

The online crypto trading platform faced heightened scrutiny by the Dutch authorities, requiring them to register with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), under the Anti-money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, for any business operations being carried out within the country's boundaries. Despite the operations being executed, Crypto.com did not go forward with the prerequisite registration process, leading to severe and persistent non-compliance. This misconduct was concluded as severe by the DNB, which consequentially amplified the imposed fine beyond the basic amount of $2 million.

Prior to this incident, the Dutch regulator had already fined other major crypto domains like Binance and Coinbase for their failure to adhere to the local regulations. In the aftermath of this, Binance took the decision to leave the Dutch market after it failed to obtain the necessary licensing. Contrastingly, Crypto.com went ahead and registered with the Apex Bank in July and also lodged an appeal against the financial penalty in October.