Ireland fines Coinbase's Irish arm €3.25 million for leaning on its US parent to guard customer money, with breaches stretching almost five years

Ireland's central bank has fined Coinbase's Irish e-money arm €3,252,618, about $3.6 million, for failing to protect customer money properly over almost five years. The Central Bank of Ireland announced the sanction on October 22, 2026, a day after reaching a settlement with Coinbase Ireland Limited, which admitted the breaches.

The regulator found three failures between November 1, 2020 and August 19, 2025. Coinbase Ireland relied too heavily on its US-based parent group to run the processes that keep customer funds safe, and lacked enough local expertise to oversee them. Its systems and testing were weak, so its designated safeguarding account was underfunded for lengthy periods. And it lacked the controls to spot and report material safeguarding changes to the central bank. The fine was reduced 30% from €4,646,597 for settling, and takes effect once the High Court confirms it.

"Payment and e-money firms have a fundamental obligation to fully safeguard customers' funds," said Karen O'Leary, the central bank's director of enforcement.

The Block reported that about 30 institutional clients deposited dollars into bank accounts held by Coinbase Inc., the US entity, rather than the Irish one, and CoinDesk said Coinbase directed 30 customers to an alternate account at a US bank as Silvergate neared collapse in 2023. CoinDesk added that euro withdrawals for some US and UK customers were paid from the Irish safeguarding account, and coding errors left that account short. Coinbase said no customer lost money or access to funds and that it self-reported several issues in January 2024, per The Block.

It follows a separate Irish fine: in November 2025 Coinbase Europe, a different entity, was fined more than €21 million over anti-money-laundering failures, both outlets noted. The central bank said this was its 164th enforcement outcome, taking its total fines past €432 million. What to watch next: the High Court confirmation, which puts the sanction into effect.