Coinbase Ireland accepts €3.25 million safeguarding penalty

Coinbase Ireland agreed to a reprimand and a €3,252,618 penalty over breaches of customer-fund safeguarding and outsourcing rules, the Central Bank of Ireland said. The sanctions remain subject to High Court confirmation and will take effect if confirmed. The regulator said the breaches of the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 ran from November 1, 2020, to August 19, 2025. The penalty was reduced from €4,646,597 through a 30% settlement discount. The Central Bank and Coinbase Ireland reached the settlement on Wednesday, October 21. According to the Central Bank, Coinbase Ireland relied excessively on its US-based group to run safeguarding processes and lacked sufficient local expertise to oversee the management of customer funds. The regulator said inadequate system design and insufficient testing left the designated safeguarding account underfunded for lengthy periods. It also cited weaknesses in internal controls, escalation and governance for identifying and reporting material changes to safeguarding arrangements. The Central Bank said customer funds were not always adequately segregated. Coinbase Ireland’s own account, reported by the company, said that during the 2023 US...