Dutch Central Bank slaps $3.3M fine on Binance

The Dutch Central Bank issued a fine of $3.4 million (3.3 million euros) on cryptocurrency exchange Binance for operating in the Netherlands without required registration, according to a release on Monday.

In August 2021, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) issued a warning that Binance had offered crypto services in the country without authorization. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) requires virtual asset service providers to complete registration under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.

The company was slapped with a category 3 fine — the most stringent of DNB’s three levels of enforcement. The fine was increased from 2 million euros to 3.3 million euros because Binance has "a very large number" of customers in the Netherlands, and “due to the gravity and degree of culpability of the non-compliance,” DNB said in a statement.

Binance is the biggest crypto exchange globally, with daily spot trading volumes of $15.5 billion.