Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) penalized Okcoin Europe — the European arm of OKX, a virtual asset service provider (VASP) operating in Malta, with a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after uncovering several failures related to AML protocols on the platform previously, as announced by the authority on April 3.
Reason for Renewed Case
OKX was among the pioneering cryptocurrency exchanges that obtained a license under Europe’s recently introduced Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation through its Malta operations in January 2025.
The announcement of the $1.2 million sanction in Malta followed a Bloomberg report in March, revealing that European Union regulators were investigating OKX for allegedly laundering $100 million linked to the Bybit hack. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou had previously asserted that OKX’s Web3 proxy enabled hackers to launder approximately $100 million or 40,233 Ether (ETH) valued at $1,781 from the $1.5 billion hack in February.
According to the FIAU, the processes for monitoring transactions were either inadequate or improperly implemented. For example, OKCoin dismissed many transaction alerts — some involving clients who deposited hundreds of thousands of euros — without sufficient examination or documented justification.
The FIAU also criticized OKCoin for not filing a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) for a high-risk client whose deposits surpassed $1.2 million over three months. Even though compliance personnel raised internal concerns, they failed to make any report despite evident red flags such as ambiguous sources of funds, inconsistent documentation, and a lack of cooperation from the customer.
Insufficient Improvements by OKCoin
While the FIAU acknowledged the company’s efforts to rectify issues identified after the compliance review — including enhanced transaction monitoring tools, improved data collection, and upgraded customer profiling — these actions were considered inadequate to mitigate the seriousness of the identified infractions.
“The Committee could not overlook the company’s previous shortcomings… some of which were classified as serious and systemic,” the FIAU stated in its official publication. It cautioned that such deficiencies could have inadvertently assisted in money laundering or terrorist financing endeavors.
The Future of OKX in Europe
As part of the Follow-Up Directive, OKCoin must now present a comprehensive action plan and undergo continuous oversight to ensure its compliance framework aligns with regulatory standards. This entails enhancements to its risk assessment models, onboarding documentation, transaction monitoring systems (for both on-chain and off-chain transactions), and staff AML training.
Failure to adhere to the Directive may result in additional administrative penalties.
