The Dutch National Bank (DNB) imposed a fine of 2.25 million euros ($2.6 million) on crypto exchange OKX for operating in the country without registering with the regulator.
The Dutch National Bank (DNB) imposed a fine of 2.25 million euros ($2.6 million) on crypto exchange OKX for operating in the country without registering with the regulator.
According to a Wednesday DNB announcement, the fine pertains to the period from July 2023 to August 2024, before the introduction of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime. Local regulators began requiring crypto firms to register with the local central bank for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) purposes in early 2020.
OKX has not responded to Cointelegraph’s inquiry by the time of publication.
Similar fines were previously issued against OKX’s competitors. In March of last year, reports revealed that the DNB had fined Crypto.com for operating without registration for over two years.
Back in 2022, DNB also fined the world’s top crypto exchange, Binance, for the same reason — and later left the market. In 2023, Coinbase was hit with a fine by DNB for the same reason.
Related: OKX CEO apologizes after ‘false positives’ lock users out of accounts
Not the sole fine for OKX
OKX, holding a MiCA license, is unlikely to leave the Netherlands market due to the fine, as it is now legally authorized to operate in the country. Still, the Netherlands is not the only jurisdiction where the exchange found itself in trouble in recent times.
In early April, OKX found itself under regulatory scrutiny in Europe after the Maltese authorities issued a fine for violating local AML rules. The 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) fine came as local authorities noted that they “could not ignore” the exchange’s compliance failures from 2023, “some of which were deemed to be serious and systematic.”
OKX was also among the 10 major crypto exchanges that the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission warned against for operating without the required authorization early last month. In its alert, the regulator warned that the platforms continued to offer or promote crypto services to Philippine users despite lacking the necessary registration.
Related: Bybit, OKX expand crypto services in Europe under MiCA
The Netherlands hosts ever more crypto innovation
The Netherlands is seeing new crypto initiatives being announced with higher frequency as time goes on. Last month, Dutch cryptocurrency service provider Amdax was unveiled to be preparing to launch a Bitcoin treasury company on Amsterdam’s Euronext stock exchange. The firm announced that multiple investors have committed about $23.3 million in an initial financing round for Amdax’s Bitcoin later that month.
The Dutch Authority for Financial Markets also granted a MiCA license to local crypto exchange Bitvavo at the end of June. The local government also asked for public input on proposed laws that would require crypto service providers, such as exchanges, to collect and share user data with the local tax authority in late October.
The rapidly evolving environment appears to be attracting corporate attention. In late September, major crypto exchange Kraken announced the closing of the Coin Meester acquisition, one of the Netherlands’ oldest registered crypto broker firms, to expand its Dutch presence.
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