Coinbase Ireland fined €3.25m by Central Bank of Ireland
Ireland’s central bank fined Coinbase Ireland €3.25 million after finding its customer safeguarding account was underfunded and oversight of outsourced safeguarding inadequate.
The Central Bank of Ireland has reprimanded Coinbase Ireland Limited and imposed a €3,252,618 monetary penalty after finding that the firm left customer money underfunded and failed to properly oversee safeguarding work outsourced to its US-based group. The CBI announced the sanction on 22 October 2026, after settling with the company on 21 October 2026. The breaches covered 1 November 2020 to 19 August 2025.
Coinbase Ireland is an e-money institution and part of the Coinbase Group. The CBI found breaches of safeguarding and outsourcing obligations under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, as amended. Safeguarding requires customer funds to be ring-fenced and fully funded.
According to the CBI, weak system design and insufficient control testing allowed the designated safeguarding account to remain underfunded for lengthy periods. It also found an inadequate outsourcing governance framework: Coinbase Ireland relied excessively on the US-based Coinbase Group as its outsourced service provider and lacked the local skills and expertise to oversee customer-fund safeguarding. Internal controls, escalation procedures and governance processes were also insufficient to identify and report material safeguarding changes to the regulator.
The CBI set the penalty at €4,646,597 before applying a 30% settlement discount, reducing it to €3,252,618. Coinbase Ireland admitted the contraventions and agreed the facts under an undisputed facts settlement. The CBI said this was the fifth such settlement since changes introduced by the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Act 2023. The sanction is subject to High Court confirmation and takes effect only once confirmed.
Karen O’Leary, the CBI’s Director of Enforcement, said payment and e-money firms have a fundamental obligation to fully safeguard customer funds and that the regulator has “no tolerance for weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements.” She added that failing to adhere to assurances made during authorisation, or to inform the CBI of material changes, was “completely unacceptable.” On outsourcing, she said it can benefit industry but, when not effectively managed, can threaten operational resilience.
The outcome is the CBI’s 164th enforcement action, taking its total fines above €432 million. It follows a €21,464,734 fine imposed on Coinbase Europe Limited, a different group entity, on 6 November 2025 for anti-money laundering failures.
Source: LeapRate