Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under fresh regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) imposed a hefty fine for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations.
On April 3, the FIAU announced a 1.1 million euro ($1.2 million) penalty against Okcoin Europe, OKX’s European subsidiary, citing multiple past AML failures on the platform. While acknowledging that OKX has significantly improved its AML policies in the past 18 months, the regulator stated it “could not ignore” previous compliance breaches from 2023, some of which were deemed “serious and systematic.”
OKX’s Compliance Under the MiCA Framework
Despite the fine, OKX was among the first crypto exchanges to secure a license under Europe’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, using Malta as its regulatory base in January 2025. The MiCA framework is designed to bring greater oversight and transparency to the European crypto market, making OKX’s compliance record a critical factor in its future operations.
EU Regulators Probe OKX Over Bybit Hack Funds
The Malta fine comes amid broader scrutiny of OKX in the European Union. In March, Bloomberg reported that EU regulators were investigating OKX over allegations of laundering $100 million in stolen funds from the Bybit hack.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously claimed that hackers used OKX’s Web3 proxy to move approximately $100 million (40,233 ETH) from the massive $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February. The ongoing investigation adds another layer of regulatory pressure on OKX as it navigates compliance challenges in Europe.
