Dutch Central Bank Hits Binance With $3.37M Fine

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was hit with a $3.37 million fine by the Dutch Central Bank for offering services without obtaining the proper registration.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) requires virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to register under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act before offering services in the Netherlands. The fine follows a warning from the central bank last August, according to multiple reports.

The bank said Binance has been in violation since 2020 and has benefited from a “competitive advantage” by not paying levies to the bank or compliance costs, according to a DNB press release on Monday (July 18).

Binance has since applied for all of the necessary registrations, which are currently under review by the central bank. Binance appealed the fine, levied in April, on June 2, DNB said, per a CNBC report, but now wants to put the matter to rest.

“Today’s decision marks a long-awaited pivot in our ongoing collaboration with the Dutch Central Bank,” a Binance spokesperson told CNBC.

“While we do not share the same view on every aspect of the decision, we deeply respect the authority and professionalism of Dutch regulators to enforce regulations as they see fit,” the spokesperson said.

See also: French European Parliament Member Wants Binance Approval Regulatory Review

Binance received regulatory registration in France in May, and provisional approval to operate as a broker-dealer in Abu Dhabi in April.

The French approval isn’t without pushback, with a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Aurore Lalucq, asking regulators to justify its “incomprehensible” decision to register a Binance unit as a digital assets service provider, PYMNTS reports earlier this month.

Binance called its registration in France in May a “milestone achievement.”

Read more: Binance CEO, Lightning Rod for Controversy, Launches Bitcoin Price War

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recently started offering zero-fee bitcoin trades on more than a dozen currencies and stablecoins, PYMNTS reported last week. The move could amount to an all-out price war given the size and scope of Binance.

For all PYMNTS EMEA coverage, subscribe to the daily EMEA Newsletter.