OKX operator Aux Cayes Fintech has pleaded guilty to running an unlicensed money transmitting business and will pay over $504 million in fines and fees.

Despite having a policy since 2017 to block U.S. users, the Seychelles-based crypto exchange actively sought out American customers, facilitating over $1 trillion in transactions without registering with FinCEN. This generated hundreds of millions in fees while bypassing legal requirements.

The Department of Justice found that OKX allowed retail customers to trade without completing Know Your Customer (KYC) verification for years. Even after introducing KYC, employees reportedly helped users evade the process by providing false information. Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky stated that OKX’s failure to follow anti-money laundering laws enabled over $5 billion in suspicious transactions and criminal activity, highlighting significant compliance lapses in the crypto industry.