OKX resolves DOJ investigation, to forfeit $421m in earned fees

• OKX pleads guilty to DOJ charges of operating unlicensed money transmitting business.
• Exchange to pay a fine of $84 million and forfeit $421 million earned in fees from US customers.
• The exchange agrees to the penalties after a Department of Justice investigation.

Crypto exchange OKX will forfeit $421 million earned as fees from customers in the United States, the exchange announced on Feb. 24.

According to OKX, its affiliate Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., had reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice following an investigation into the companys operations. OKX pleaded guilty to charges of operating as unlicensed money transmitting business.

Specifically, the OKX platform acknowledged that legacy compliance gaps might have seen a number of U.S. customers trade on the exchanges 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…

So while the DOJ did not allege any customer harm and brought no charges against OKX employees, the company agreed to resolve the matter by paying a fine and forfeiting earned fees.

“To resolve the issue, the company agreed to pay a penalty of $84 million, and to forfeit fees earned from these U.S. customers over the period, which was approximately $421 million, a majority of which comes from a few institutional clients,” the exchange wrote in an update.

OKX collaborated with the DOJ during the investigation and agreed with the resolution.

“The resolution marks a pivotal step in the companys ongoing commitment to compliance excellence, deeper regulatory collaboration, and industry-wide integrity in keeping with the evolution of the crypto sector. This settlement reflects growth and positions OKX to continue working with regulators and developing solutions that benefit our customers and the crypto market at large.,” the exchange noted in the blog post.

Amid its quest to enhance compliance, transparency and user security, OKX says it is taking “full accountability for past shortcomings.” The company commits to providing a safe, compliant, and trusted platform for its users, with these efforts set to help promote further crypto adoption.

Notably, the OKXs settlement with the DOJ comes as the US crypto regulation landscape increasingly becomes pro-crypto. In the past few days, the Securities and Exchange Commission has for instance ended its investigations into Robinhood and Opensea.

Crypto exchange Coinbase also announced the regulator had agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against the company.