OKX announced today that it reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), closing previous investigations. It pled guilty to several charges and will pay over $504 million.
The exchange depicted this settlement as a casual misunderstanding, but the DoJ’s own press release referred to its “flagrant violations” and “blatant disregard.”
OKX Settles with the DoJ
OKX, one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, has been clearing house on its global regulatory compliance issues. On one hand, it secured a MiCA license for EU operations last week; on the other, it decided to list Pi Network despite firm warnings, particularly from China. Now, OKX works towards new compliance in the US, announcing a settlement with the DoJ:
“We cooperated with the US Department of Justice in their thorough investigation of our business. We had a small percentage of customers who were able to use our international services due to historical compliance gaps. Today our compliance controls are among the leading in the industry. This matter is now behind us,” the firm claimed on social media.
OKX also shared a lengthier blog post discussing this DoJ settlement, clearing up a few finer points. Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., OKX’s operator, acknowledged that it allowed US customers to trade on its platforms without proper licensing. OKX agreed to pay a fine of $84 million and forfeit $421 million in user fees. This concludes a saga of investigations into the firm.
The US government’s financial regulatory apparatus is having a changing attitude towards crypto, but frictions still remain. OKX’s own depiction of the settlement casts it as a simple misunderstanding, but the DoJ itself emphasized that the firm pled guilty to serious offenses. Quoting various officials, the DoJ referred to OKX’s “flagrant violations” and “blatant disregard” in its conduct.
With this firm attitude, the DoJ stands out among other federal regulators. In the last week alone, the SEC dropped a major lawsuit against Coinbase and quietly dismissed a probe into Robinhood’s potential misconduct. OKX’s settlement involves an actual fine and guilty plea, which is more than these institutions can claim.
In other words, the exchange didn’t quite get a reprieve or slap on the wrist. Nonetheless, OKX should be quite pleased with this settlement. It earned over $1.5 billion in revenue last year, and it has substantial asset holdings and trade volumes. $504 million is a hefty price to pay but a worthwhile fee to get back in the US government’s good graces.
