Dutch central bank fines crypto exchange Crypto.com €2.85 million

The Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has fined the cryptocurrency trading platform crypto.com 2.85 million euros. The company offered cryptocurrency services to people in the Netherlands without first registering with the DNB, the Dutch central bank said. This is prohibited and was the reason the supervisory authority imposed the financial penalty.

Service providers in the cryptocurrency sector have been obligated to file their own registration with the DNB since May 2020. The central bank uses this notification to check whether platforms are taking strong enough measures to counteract money laundering or methods for financing terrorism.

Crypto.com was active in the Netherlands from May 2020 to November 2022, when it operated without having registered. The fine was issued in October but was released publicly by the DNB on Wednesday.

Crypto.com is part of Foris Dax Global Limited and is registered in Ireland. DNB claims that the offenses are “so grave and imputable” that the fine was raised by 850,000 euros from the typical amount of two million euros.

DNB also claims that Crypto.com had an unfair advantage over its competition as the platform did not have to pay any levies or other costs to the Dutch supervisor during this 31-month period. Crypto.com has since registered with the DNB.

The bank had already issued million euro fines to crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance as they also worked in the Netherlands without registration. Coinbase has been formally registered since September 2022. Binance left the Netherlands when the DNB did not grant them a permit.