Coinbase fined for operating in the Netherlands: here’s why

Dutch Central Bank announces a $3.6 million fine on Coinbase.
It says the crypto exchange has been in a regulatory violation.
Shares of Coinbase Global Inc ended roughly flat on Thursday.

Coinbase Global Inc seems to be up for another regulatory fine.

On Thursday, the Dutch Central Bank forced a $3.60 million penalty on the cryptocurrency exchange for failing to comply with the domestic regulations.

What regulation did Coinbase not comply with?

In May 2020, Netherlands made it mandatory for businesses wanting to launch crypto-related services to register with the DNB first.

But Coinbase, as per the central bank, did not go through such a registration and, therefore, was in regulatory violation for nearly two years; between November 2020 and August 2022. The DNB said:

Coinbase has enjoyed a competitive advantage in that it has not paid any supervisory fees to DNB or incurred other costs in connection with DNB’s regular supervision activities.

Last year, the regulator had hit its peer Binance with a $3.35 million fine as well.

Coinbase recently settled with the NYDFS as well

According to the Dutch Central Bank, the said non-compliance might have made the Financial Intelligence Unit miss a bunch of suspicious transactions through September of 2022.

Nonetheless, Coinbase can appeal the penalty until March 2nd. Earlier in January, it signed a $100 million settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) as well.

A day earlier, Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev warned of a potential 40% downside in Coinbase stock (as Coin Journal reported HERE) that ended roughly flat on Thursday.

Analysts expect the crypto company to report a $2.39 per share loss in its current quarter. A year ago, it had $3.32 of EPS instead.