On 22 October 2024, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) imposed an administrative fine of €2,250,000 on Bybit Fintech Limited (Bybit). The fine was imposed because Bybit provided crypto services in the Netherlands without the legally required registration with DNB, which is against the law.
© DNB
Reason for the fine
In response to this non-compliance with statute, we imposed a fine.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme – Wwft) aims to counter the laundering of criminal proceeds and the financing of terrorism. Action against money laundering is of high importance to ensure effective countering of different forms of serious crime. Concealing the origin of criminal proceeds enables perpetrators to keep out of the reach of the investigative authorities and enjoy their ill-gotten gains undisturbed.
The registration requirement for crypto service providers was introduced on 21 May 2020 because of the high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with crypto services. This is related to the anonymity associated with crypto transactions. Without the registration requirement, it is less easy to monitor whether the risk of criminal financial flows is sufficiently countered.
Bybit contravened the objectives of the Wwft by providing crypto services in the Netherlands without registration with DNB. Among other factors, this meant that Bybit was unable to report unusual transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit-Netherlands (FIU-NL) during the period of non-compliance. As a result, a large number of unusual transactions may have gone unnoticed by the investigative authorities.
Since 21 May 2020, the Wwft requires companies wishing to offer crypto services in or from the Netherlands to register with DNB . Once the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) becomes fully effective on 30 December 2024, a licence for these activities will be required.
DNB's enforcement approach is primarily aimed at compliance with the law. In addition, the more serious and culpable the non-compliance, the sooner DNB will impose a fine. This is done on a case-by-case basis. In imposing the fine and setting its amount at €2,250,000, DNB considered the severity, extent, duration and severe culpability of the non-compliance. The final amount of the fine was reduced because of the steps Bybit took to end the non-compliance and prevent its recurrence by facilitating the transfer of its Dutch customers to a local partner.
Bybit has six weeks from receipt of notification of the fine to lodge an objection.
Read the full decision below (in Dutch), excluding confidential information. For further information, please contact DNB’s Information Desk at telephone number 0800 - 020 1068 (free of charge) or +31 20 524 9111 (if calling from abroad).
Boete- en openbaarmakingsbesluit Bybit Fintech Limited
Current situation of proceedings – administrative fine Bybit Fintech Limited
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