Crypto.com Faces Regulatory Hurdle with Dutch Central Bank Fine
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch Central Bank, has imposed a major fine on crypto exchange Crypto.com .
The fine, which amounted to 2.85 million euros ($3 million), was imposed in October last year but only announced on March 13.
The fine was imposed on Foris DAX MT, operating as Crypto.com. The exchange was fined for providing crypto exchange services without proper registration. Additionally, this happened over two years, from May 21, 2020, until at least November 8, 2022.
The DNB introduced registration requirements on May 21, 2020, under the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, mandating crypto service providers to register.
The base amount of the fine was set at 2 million euros. However, it was increased due to the severity of the violation and the degree of culpability.
By operating without registration, Crypto.com enjoyed an unfair advantage over its competitors by evading supervisory fees and compliance costs.
Additionally, the lack of registration prevented the company from reporting unusual transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit-Netherlands during the non-compliant period.
Crypto.com objected to the DNB’s decision on October 9, contesting the imposed fine.
However, the company has since obtained registration in The Netherlands in July 2023.
The incident follows the DNB’s introduction of registration requirements for crypto service providers in April 2022.
Binance similarly faced a fine of 3.3 million euros ($3.5 million at the time). The exchange was fined for operating without registration after receiving a warning from the DNB in August 2021.
In June 2022, Binance announced its decision to cease operations in The Netherlands after an unsuccessful
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