OKX Agrees to Pay Over $500M Penalty in DOJ Settlement

OKX has reached a settlement with US authorities over its failure to obtain a necessary license to operate as a money transmitter.

In a statement, the cryptocurrency exchange said its affiliate, Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd, has agreed to pay over $500 million in penalties and forfeited fees while acknowledging the compliance gaps that led to enforcement action.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that OKX actively "sought out customers in the United States, including in the Southern District of New York," despite lacking the required money transmitter license.

Citing Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said OKX facilitated over $5 billion in "suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds."

OKX said that the total number of US customers involved amounted to a "small percentage" of its worldwide customer base and that they are no longer on the platform.

"To resolve the issue, the Company agreed to pay a penalty of $84 million, and to forfeit fees earned from these US customers over the period, which was approximately $421 million, a majority of which comes from a few institutional clients," OKX stated.

Looking ahead, OKX has implemented a comprehensive, risk-based global compliance program that includes strengthening its Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Risk Rating (CRR) systems, expanding its Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) framework, and deploying advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) tools.

Last month, OKX received a full Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license. With the license, the crypto exchange plans to provide customers with access to a variety of trading services, including OTC trading, spot trading, and bot trading, featuring over 240 cryptocurrency tokens and 260 trading pairs, including more than 60 Euro-based pairs.