The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has penalised the Irish arm of cryptocurrency platform operator Coinbase Group for breaching safeguarding and outsourcing obligations.
The bank imposed a fine of €3.25m against Coinbase Ireland for the lapses that took place between 1 November 2020 and 19 August 2025.
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The sanctions are subject to High Court confirmation and will take effect once confirmed, the Central Bank said in a statement.
Coinbase Ireland is an e-money institution within the Coinbase Group. It issues and redeems e-money in exchange for fiat currency. Customers use that e-money to buy crypto assets on the group’s online trading platform.
The Central Bank found that Coinbase Ireland lacked an adequate framework for overseeing outsourced services. It relied excessively on the US-based Coinbase Group to implement safeguarding processes and controls required under Irish and EU rules.
The regulator also found that Coinbase Ireland lacked sufficient local skills and expertise to oversee the management and safeguarding of customer funds.
Weaknesses in system design and insufficient control testing allowed a designated safeguarding account to remain underfunded for “lengthy periods of time”, the Central Bank further said.
It also found that Coinbase Ireland lacked sufficient internal controls, escalation procedures and governance processes to identify and report significant changes to its safeguarding arrangements.
Central Bank enforcement director Karen O’Leary said: “Firms in Ireland must have the appropriate culture and expertise to comply with the rules, respond to risks and to protect customer interests.
“While outsourcing presents many benefits to industry, when not effectively managed, it can threaten the operational resilience of firms.
“Payment and e-money firms have a fundamental obligation to fully safeguard customers’ funds. The Central Bank has made its supervisory expectations in this regard clear: we have no tolerance for weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements.”
The Central Bank initially set the monetary penalty at €4.65m before applying a 30% settlement discount.
In a separate statement, Coinbase Ireland said it “cooperated” with the Central Bank to reach the settlement.
“We have fully addressed the concerns that led to this settlement and there was no customer impact: no client suffered any financial loss or was unable to access their funds as a result of these historic practices,” the statement added.
