Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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OKX has settled its charges with the DOJ after facilitating more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions.
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The crypto exchange has paid over $500 million in penalties and forfeitures.
OKX Pays Over $500M to Settle with the DOJ
OKX, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, announced on Monday that its affiliate, Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., has settled with the U.S. authorities over its failure to obtain a license to operate as a money transmitter.
In its press release, OKX said it paid over $500 million in penalties and forfeited fees to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice. The crypto exchange failed to secure a money transmitter license before providing services to its clients. A DOJ press release revealed that OKX sought out customers in the United States, including in the Southern District of New York.
OKX stated that,
“There were no allegations of customer harm, no charges against any Company employee, and no government-appointed monitor as part of the settlement. 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.”
The settlement resolved allegations of fraudulent and non-compliant activities at OKX in recent years. The DOJ added that OKX facilitated more than $5 billion in "suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds," citing Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky.
OKcoin, the American division of OKX, also received a subpoena issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Feb. 24, 2024.
A source close to the matter told CoinDesk that the CFC probe into OKcoin relates to last year’s flash crash of the exchange’s OKB token. At the time, OKX told users that they would be compensated for losses arising from the price crash.
OKX is one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world, processing nearly $5 billion in daily trading volume.
