Key Takeaways:
- Malta’s FIAU fined OKX’s European arm €1.1M for significant AML compliance failures in 2023.
- Despite improvements, the regulator cited “serious and systematic” past violations as grounds for the penalty.
- The action follows EU probes into OKX’s alleged link to laundering $100M from the Bybit hack.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is facing regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) imposed a €1.1 million ($1.2 million) fine on its European arm, Okcoin Europe, for past Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance failures.
The FIAU cited “serious and systematic” violations uncovered in 2023, although it acknowledged that OKX has improved its compliance framework over the past 18 months.
Crypto exchange OKX was fined by Maltese authorities for breaching the country’s anti-money laundering rules, the latest in a string of regulatory setbacks for the platform https://t.co/FoSgLFEsGG
— Bloomberg (@business) April 4, 2025
This regulatory action comes shortly after OKX became one of the first exchanges to receive a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, via its Malta-based operations, in January 2025.
Further intensifying pressure, a March 2025 Bloomberg report revealed that EU regulators are investigating OKX for its possible involvement in laundering $100 million tied to the Bybit hack.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou alleged that OKX’s Web3 proxy was used by hackers to move 40,233 Ether from the $1.5 billion exploit that occurred in February.
These developments underscore growing regulatory concerns around AML enforcement and cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the European crypto landscape.
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