The failures stemmed from three coding errors across five of Coinbase’s 21 screening scenarios, leading to partial screening and a retrospective re-analysis of roughly 185,000 transactions out of about 97 million processed.

Coinbase reiterated its commitment to anti-money laundering duties, regulatory compliance, and maintaining a secure platform for users in Ireland and beyond.

This enforcement takes place as European regulators tighten crypto oversight ahead of MiCA, with Coinbase pursuing expansion of custody and institutional services, and engaging in policy actions around stablecoins.

Coinbase Europe Limited was fined €21.5 million by the Central Bank of Ireland for critical lapses in its transaction monitoring, leaving thousands of transactions unscreened for suspicious activity between 2021 and 2022.

Regulators describe the case as a landmark Europe-wide enforcement, signaling stricter crypto-AML standards and potential consequences for non-compliance.

Regulators across Europe are tightening AML oversight ahead of MiCA, with on-site inspections in France and calls for stronger EU-wide supervision of major exchanges.

After the issues were discovered, Coinbase spent nearly three years reviewing the affected transactions and filed over 2,700 suspicious-activity reports to authorities, covering areas such as money laundering, fraud, cybercrime, drug trafficking, and exploitation concerns.

The reporting highlights ongoing AML tightening across Europe before MiCA, including cross-border actions in France, Austria, and Italy related to crypto firms and supervision.

The Bank emphasized that robust monitoring and timely reporting are essential to combat financial crime in crypto.

The case raises questions about Coinbase’s compliance infrastructure as it seeks greater regulatory legitimacy, with regulators likely scrutinizing similar weaknesses in other jurisdictions.

Central Bank Deputy Governor Colm Kincaid stressed the importance of robust monitoring in crypto given cross-border, anonymity-enhancing features that attract criminals, and the need to protect market integrity.

The settlement underscores ongoing regulatory scrutiny of crypto firms and the need for robust AML/CTF controls as the European regulatory framework evolves.