Irish central bank fines Coinbase unit €3.25 million

Irish Central Bank Fines Coinbase Ireland €3.25 Million for Compliance Breaches

Details of the Central Bank of Ireland's Fine on Coinbase

Background of the Fine

LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Ireland fined crypto asset-trading platform Coinbase's Irish unit €3.25 million ($3.65 million) for breaching safeguarding and outsourcing obligations between 2020 and 2025, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The bank said the fine follows a settlement it reached with Coinbase Ireland on Wednesday, and came after rules related to protecting customer funds and maintaining confidence in the financial system were breached.

Central Bank's Statement

"Payment and e-money firms have a fundamental obligation to fully safeguard customers' funds," Central Bank Director of Enforcement Karen O'Leary said.

"The Central Bank has made its supervisory expectations in this regard clear: we have no tolerance for weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements."

Coinbase's Response

A Coinbase spokesperson said it had self-reported the issues to the Central Bank and that "no customers suffered financial loss or were unable to access their funds as a result".

"These issues largely arose in the context of Coinbase taking steps to protect customers during periods of significant disruption," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Previous Regulatory Actions

Last year, the bank fined a Coinbase subsidiary €21.5 million for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist transaction monitoring obligations.

Exchange Rate Information

($1 = 0.8915 euros)

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Sam Tobin)