OKX Operator Pleads Guilty Over AML Violations, Agrees to Pay $505M in Fines

(The article has been amended after receiving comments from outside counsel for OKX)

Seychelles-based crypto exchange platform OKX’s operator has agreed to pay nearly $505 million in fines and penalties for violating US anti-money laundering (AML) laws for seven years.

Aux Cayes FinTech Co, pleaded guilty to one count of unlicensed money transmitting business on Monday. The company, which operates one of the largest crypto exchanges OKX, still has operations in the US.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan imposed the sentence, presiding over the guilty plea.

“For over seven years, OKX knowingly violated anti-money laundering laws and avoided implementing required policies to prevent criminals from abusing our financial system,” Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky, said.

Over these years, the exchange facilitated criminal proceeds through suspicious transactions, worth more than $5 billion, the attorney added.

The firm will pay a criminal fine of $84 million to settle its extended probe with the regulator. Additionally, the parent company has agreed to forfeit a $421 million fee.

David Meister, outside counsel for OKX, told Cryptonews in an update that the settlement contained “absolutely no charges of money laundering.”

“Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., one of many OKX affiliates, resolved a Department of Justice investigation by acknowledging that it had not obtained a license to operate as a money transmitter,” he said.

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

“OKX Flagrantly Violated U.S. Law”: FBI

The exchange has been luring customers in the US, including users from New York and other states, since 2017. However, OKX’s official policy has prevented engaging US customers from transacting on its exchange.

“For years, OKX flagrantly violated U.S. law, actively seeking customers in the US—including here in New York—and even going so far as to advise individuals to provide false information to circumvent requisite procedures,” James E. Dennehy from FBI, noted.

Per the DOJ release, the exchange has been serving US customers, without proper registration, from 2018 through early 2024. As a result, US retail and institutional customers were involved in over one trillion dollars’ worth of transactions on OKX.

“Transactions from those U.S. customers generated hundreds of millions of dollars in trading fees and profits for OKX.”

Employees Misguided Customers to Circumvent KYC

Per court papers, OKX allowed US customers to place trades through third-party entities, without completing a KYC process.

Besides, investigations revealed that the exchange employees, on certain occasions, “advised customers” how to provide false information to circumvent the company’s KYC process.

Particularly, OKX employees guided US customers to mention any random country and a fake national ID number.

The exchange recently announced that it received Europe’s new MiCA license to carry out its services in the region. OKX has been granted to provide fully compliant crypto offerings across 28 European Economic Area member states.