Key Takeaways
- • Ireland's Central Bank (CBI) fined Coinbase Ireland 3.25 million euros ($3.6 million) for alleged failures in safeguarding customer funds and overseeing outsourced services.
- • The regulator said Coinbase Ireland placed excessive reliance on its U.S.-based parent, Coinbase Group, and failed to establish an adequate outsourcing governance framework.
- • Coinbase disclosed that coding errors left a safeguarding account underfunded by an average of 0.54% in 2023 and the first half of 2024, and that it said no customer lost money or was unable to access funds.
- • The penalty follows a 21.4 million-euro CBI fine imposed on Coinbase Europe in 2025 for anti-money laundering failures.
Summary
Ireland's Central Bank fined Coinbase Ireland 3.25 million euros ($3.6 million) over alleged breaches of its safeguarding and outsourcing obligations, the regulator announced on Thursday. The Irish division of Coinbase Global failed to establish an adequate outsourcing governance framework, according to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Safeguarding and outsourcing requirements are designed to protect customer funds, requiring firms to keep them adequately funded and monitored and to report material changes to the regulator.
The CBI said Coinbase Ireland "placed excessive reliance on the U.S.-based Coinbase Group as an outsourced service provider to implement safeguarding processes and controls" and "failed to adequately safeguard customers' funds, both through inadequate system design and insufficient control testing." The regulator also cited a lack of adequate systems and controls.
In a statement following the announcement, Coinbase said that when crypto-friendly bank Silvergate was on the verge of collapse in 2023, it instructed 30 customers to deposit funds into an alternate account held by Coinbase at another U.S. bank. Those funds were held alongside those belonging to customers of another Coinbase entity, which constitutes a breach of safeguarding requirements. Coinbase also acknowledged that euro withdrawals from U.S. or U.K.-based customers were paid from Coinbase Ireland's safeguarding account, and that coding errors left the account underfunded by an average of 0.54% in 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Coinbase stated that "no customer suffered any financial loss as a result of these matters, and no customer was ever unable to access their funds."
The penalty comes almost one year after the CBI fined Coinbase Europe 21.4 million euros for breaching anti-money laundering obligations between 2021 and 2025.
The CBI said Coinbase Ireland "placed excessive reliance on the U.S.-based Coinbase Group as an outsourced service provider to implement safeguarding processes and controls" and "failed to adequately safeguard customers' funds, both through inadequate system design and insufficient control testing." The regulator also cited a lack of adequate systems and controls.
In a statement following the announcement, Coinbase said that when crypto-friendly bank Silvergate was on the verge of collapse in 2023, it instructed 30 customers to deposit funds into an alternate account held by Coinbase at another U.S. bank. Those funds were held alongside those belonging to customers of another Coinbase entity, which constitutes a breach of safeguarding requirements. Coinbase also acknowledged that euro withdrawals from U.S. or U.K.-based customers were paid from Coinbase Ireland's safeguarding account, and that coding errors left the account underfunded by an average of 0.54% in 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Coinbase stated that "no customer suffered any financial loss as a result of these matters, and no customer was ever unable to access their funds."
The penalty comes almost one year after the CBI fined Coinbase Europe 21.4 million euros for breaching anti-money laundering obligations between 2021 and 2025.
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