Bitcoin Magazine
Central Bank of Ireland Fines Coinbase Unit €3.25 Million Over Customer Fund Safeguarding Failures
The Central Bank of Ireland has fined Coinbase Ireland Limited €3.25 million ($3.65 million) for failing to safeguard customer funds and for leaning on its US parent to run compliance functions it was supposed to control itself.
The regulator announced the penalty on Thursday, one day after it reached a settlement with the Coinbase subsidiary.
The breaches ran from November 2020 to August 2025 under Ireland’s Electronic Money Regulations. Coinbase Ireland, an e-money institution, issues the euro and dollar balances European customers use to buy bitcoin and other crypto assets on the Coinbase platform.
The law requires those balances to sit in dedicated safeguarding accounts, walled off from corporate money and from customers of other Coinbase entities.
The Central Bank found three failures. Coinbase Ireland placed “excessive reliance” on its US-based group to design and run its safeguarding controls, and it lacked the local expertise to oversee that work.
Its safeguarding account was underfunded “for lengthy periods of time” because of poor system design and weak control testing. And it had no adequate process to flag material changes in its safeguarding practices to the regulator.
That last point drew the sharpest language from Karen O’Leary, the Central Bank’s director of enforcement. The regulator said the exchange Ireland promised “robust and automated safeguards” when it sought authorisation in 2019, and that the firm’s practices drifted from those commitments without notice.
“Failing to adhere to the assurances made during the authorisation process or to inform us of material changes as happened in this case is completely unacceptable,” O’Leary said.
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