- OKX pleaded guilty to DOJ charges of operating an unlicensed money transmission business.
- The exchange will pay an $84 million fine and forfeit $421 million in fees earned from U.S. customers.
- The exchange agreed to the sanctions following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX announced on February 24 that it will forfeit $421 million in fees collected from United States customers.
According to OKX, its affiliate Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice after an investigation into the company’s operations. OKX pleaded guilty to charges that it operated as an unlicensed money transmitter.
The exchange acknowledged that historical compliance gaps may have allowed a small number of U.S. customers to trade on its global platform.
We cooperated with the US Dept 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… pic.twitter.com/sg1b2GC4wE
— OKX (@okx) February 24, 2025
A statement from the company makes clear that the DOJ did not allege harm to customers and did not bring charges against OKX employees. Nonetheless, OKX agreed to resolve the matter by paying a fine and forfeiting the fees it collected.
“To resolve the matter, the company agreed to pay an $84 million penalty and forfeit the fees earned from those U.S. customers during the relevant period, which amounted to approximately $421 million, the majority of which came from a small number of institutional customers,” the exchange wrote in an update.
OKX cooperated with the DOJ throughout the investigation and accepted the resolution.
“The resolution marks an important step in the company’s ongoing commitment to compliance excellence, deeper regulatory engagement, and industry-wide integrity as the crypto sector evolves. This agreement reflects our growth and positions OKX to continue working with regulators and developing solutions that benefit our customers and the broader crypto market,” the exchange said in its blog post.
As part of its efforts to improve compliance, transparency, and user security, OKX stated it takes “full responsibility for past shortcomings.”
The company reiterated its commitment to providing a secure, compliant, and reliable platform for users, saying these measures are intended to help advance broader adoption of cryptocurrency.
OKX’s agreement with the DOJ comes amid a shifting U.S. regulatory landscape that has shown an increasingly pro-crypto stance in certain areas.
In recent days, for example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has closed investigations into Robinhood and OpenSea. Coinbase also announced that regulators agreed to dismiss a lawsuit against the company.