Crypto.com ‘disappointed’ over $3m fine by Dutch central bank, plans to appeal
The Dutch central bank has fined Crypto.com for $3m, saying the company severely violated compliance requirements.
The Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), has imposed an administrative fine of €2,850,000 (around $3.1 million) on Foris DAX MT, a parent company of Crypto.com, saying the company violated the local anti-money laundering rules and anti-terrorist financing act.
According to a press release on Mar. 13, companies providing crypto services in the Netherlands are required to register with DNB under the anti-terrorist financing act. Failure to comply with this requirement carries penalties. DNB categorized Foris DAX MT’s violation as falling under a category 3 fine due to the “severity and duration of the non-compliance,” which persisted from late May 2020 until at least early November 2022.
In response to the fine, a spokesperson from Crypto.com expressed disappointment, highlighting in a commentary with crypto.news that the incident was rectified in the past and does not impact ongoing operations or services.
“We are disappointed and disagree with DNB’s decision to fine Foris DAX MT and are actively appealing this decision. Moreover, we have already addressed the concerns raised in a timely and transparent manner and received regulatory approval from DNB as a crypto service provider in July last year.”
A spokesperson for Crypto.com
Crypto.com affirmed its intention to collaborate with DNB and regulatory bodies globally. This fine marks the latest instance of the Dutch central bank penalizing a crypto company with a six-figure fine.
In April 2022, the regulator fined crypto exchange Binance $3.3 million for operating in the country without registration. Despite Binance’s initial assertion to customers that it was working towards obtaining a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license from DNB, the exchange eventually exited the Netherlands market in July 2023. Similarly, in January 2023, DNB also imposed an administrative fine of €3.33 million on Coinbase Europe for conducting operations in the country without registering with the monetary authority.
