Canada's Cryptomus exchange hit with record 177 million CAD fine for money-laundering failures

Canada’s financial crime watchdog has fined crypto exchange Cryptomus a record C$176.96 million (126.2 million USD) for anti-money-laundering and sanctions-related violations — the largest penalty in the agency’s history.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said the British Columbia-incorporated operator, officially Xeltox Enterprises Ltd., failed to report more than 1,000 suspicious transactions in July 2024 involving darknet markets and wallets tied to child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments, and sanctions evasion.

FINTRAC also found 7,557 unreported transfers from Iran between July and December 2024 and 1,518 large-value crypto transactions exceeding C$10,000 during the same period that went unreported. The regulator said Cryptomus lacked proper “know-your-client” procedures and risk assessments, calling its compliance program “incomplete and inadequate.”

Cryptomus was also banned from trading securities in British Columbia earlier this year by the provincial securities commission.

FINTRAC Chief Sarah Paquet said the case proves that crypto firms remain “vulnerable to exploitation by illicit actors,” especially when compliance controls break down.

The penalty far surpasses the C$19.5 million fine imposed on KuCoin in July and disclosed in September, and follows earlier action against Binance, which was fined C$6 million in 2024 for failing to register and report large transactions. FINTRAC said the action is part of a wider push to bring the virtual-currency industry in line with the compliance standards expected of traditional financial institutions.