The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase's Irish subsidiary €3.25 million over safeguarding and outsourcing failures. The regulator says customer money was mixed with other funds and the safeguarding account ran short. Coinbase Ireland self-reported the breaches and says no customers lost money.
The Central Bank of Ireland has fined Coinbase's Irish subsidiary €3.25 million for failing to properly safeguard customer funds. The regulator announced the penalty on October 22, 2026, citing breaches of Ireland's Electronic Money Regulations 2011.
Those breaches ran from November 2020 to August 2025. Coinbase received a 30% settlement discount after admitting them, and the regulator first set the fine at €4.65 million.
Outsourcing and commingled funds
The regulator pointed to three core problems. First, Coinbase Ireland handed safeguarding functions to its US parent without adequately supervising the work. Second, customer funds were mixed with money that should have been kept separate.
Third, daily funding shortfalls hit the designated safeguarding account for more than a year. The maximum shortfall reached €3.4 million in 2023 and €5.2 million in 2024.
What the settlement notice details
The Defiant, citing the regulator's notice, reports that the sanctions will not take effect unless confirmed by Ireland's High Court. It also reports that the fine was €3,252,618, reduced from €4,646,597.
According to The Defiant, the regulator traced the underfunding to July 2022 changes to data tables feeding the firm's safeguarding report. The central bank found no evidence of actual consumer detriment, The Defiant reports. Per the same report, the account would not have held enough money to meet obligations had Coinbase Ireland become insolvent.
Self-reported, with a prior fine
Coinbase Ireland self-reported the violations to the regulator. The company maintains that no customers suffered financial losses. It says no one lost access to their funds either.
This is not the first action against a Coinbase entity. In November 2025, the Central Bank fined a Coinbase entity €21.5 million over anti-money laundering and transaction monitoring failures.
Sources: Crypto Briefing, The Defiant
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
