De Nederlandsche Bank imposes a fine of 3.3 million euros on crypto exchange Binance

De Nederlandsche Bank has imposed a fine of 3.3 million euros on Binance. The largest crypto exchange in the world was not registered with the central bank in the Netherlands for a long time, which is mandatory. Binance already received a warning from DNB last year.

The amount of the fine takes into account that Binance is the largest provider of crypto services worldwide and that the violation took place over a longer period of time. The crypto exchange has a trading volume of USD 13.7 billion and a high number of Dutch customers. According to DNB, Binance has also had a competitive advantage because the crypto exchange “has not incurred any costs related to ongoing supervision by DNB.” “DNB therefore considers these violations to be very serious.”

De Nederlandsche Bank does indicate that it has reduced the fine by five percent because Binance has been “relatively transparent” about its business operations. The maximum fine that DNB can impose for the violations is 4 million euros. Binance has now applied for registration. This is currently being assessed by DNB. Binance disagrees with the fine and is appealing.

In the Netherlands, companies that offer crypto services must register with DNB since 21 May 2020. This falls under the Wwft, the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act. Last year, Binance already received a warning from De Nederlandsche Bank due to the lack of mandatory registration. DNB’s fine was already imposed in April of this year, but the central bank is only now releasing the news.