The OKX Cryptocurrency Exchange operator pleaded guilty to violating US money laundering regulations and agreed to pay a US$555 million fine and a forfeiture fee. Reuters Report for February 24, 2025.
Seychelles-based Aux Cayes Fintech Co has granted its unlicensed money transfer business in a plea that entered before District Judge Catherine Polk Faira in Manhattan.
Penalties include a fine of USD 84.4 million and a confiscation of USD 420 million. Additionally, OKX must maintain an external compliance consultant until February 2027. This is a measure that was launched last year.
US officials praised OKX for helping with the investigation.
Prosecutors revealed that between 2018 and early 2024, OKX intentionally made intentional permission for our base users to access the platform in violation of their own policies. The platform is said to have promoted more than US$5 billion in suspicious transactions and criminal activity during this period.
US users have made more than $1 trillion in total, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in OKX profits. In some cases, customers were reportedly encouraged to avoid the ban by OKX employees.
Ranked as the global fourth-largest cryptocurrency spot exchange, OKX has been promoted in the US through initiatives such as sponsoring the Tribeca Film Festival, according to Coinmarketcap.
Despite these activities, Aux Cayes Fintech said US users have made up only a small portion of their customer base and are no longer active on the platform. The company believes the violations are attributed to a “legacy compliance gap.”
The case highlights the growing scrutiny of US regulators on cryptocurrency exchanges as U.S. regulators work to implement anti-money laundering and compliance with the Financial Transparency Act.
In similar news, The US Supreme Court has rejected petition from Binanceseeks to overturn a lower court’s decision to apply US securities laws to cryptocurrency exchanges. This decision clears the way class action lawsuits move forward.
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