DNB Fines Crypto.com €2.85 Million for Unregistered Operations in the Netherlands

The Dutch central bank announced on Wednesday that it has imposed a fine of €2.85 million ($3.11 million) on Crypto.com, a virtual assets exchange, for operating in the Netherlands without proper registration. According to Dutch laws aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorist organizations, companies offering crypto services in the country are required to register with the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

The regulator stated that the violations committed by Crypto.com were deemed "so serious and culpable" that the penalty, which has a base amount of €2 million, was increased by €850,000. DNB emphasized that it issued a relatively large fine to Crypto.com, based in Singapore, due to its substantial customer base in the Netherlands. Moreover, the company had gained a competitive advantage by not paying supervisory fees to the central bank and avoiding other compliance costs.

In a 36-page notice, DNB clarified that the fine was imposed for Crypto.com's failure to register for anti-money laundering (AML) purposes from May 2020 to November 2022, despite receiving multiple warnings. The central bank had imposed the fine back in October but had not previously made the decision public.

By fLEXI tEAM