Matthew Podolsky, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, announced that Aux Cayes Fintech, doing business as “OKEx” and “OKX,” has pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
OKX, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, has agreed to pay over US$504 million in penalties.
US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla presided over the plea and sentencing.
“For over seven years, OKX knowingly violated anti-money laundering laws, allowing over five billion US$ in suspicious transactions. Today’s plea and penalties highlight the consequences for financial institutions that violate the law,”
said Acting US Attorney Matthew Podolsky.
“For years, OKX actively sought US customers and even advised individuals on how to bypass security measures. Their disregard for US law facilitated illicit transactions, which will not be tolerated,”
said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy.
OKX operates one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, facilitating billions of US$ in daily transactions, including spot trades and derivatives for over 300 cryptocurrencies.
US financial regulations require such institutions to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and implement anti-money laundering measures, including KYC protocols.
Despite its official policy prohibiting US users since 2017, OKX knowingly provided services to US customers, including institutional traders.
From 2018 to early 2024, US users conducted over a trillion US$ in transactions on the platform, generating hundreds of millions of US$ in fees.
OKX was aware of its legal obligations but deliberately chose not to register as a money services business.
Until November 2022, OKX allowed customers to trade without KYC verification.
Although it implemented an IP ban to block US users, the company knew this could be bypassed via VPNs. Until early 2023, existing accounts could still trade without verification.
Through early 2024, OKX also enabled anonymous trading through third-party “non-disclosure brokers.”
OKX employees actively helped US customers evade restrictions.
In April 2023, an OKX employee advised a potential US user:
“I know you’re in the US, but you could just put a random country and it should go through.”
In January 2024, the same employee asked another US customer about
“any workaround on KYC outside of the US.”
OKX further sought out US customers by advertising in the United States, sponsoring the Tribeca Film Festival, and working with affiliate marketers.
At least one user created a publicly available tutorial explaining how to register with OKX using a VPN.
The platform prioritised large US institutional clients, with one firm alone conducting over a trillion US$ in transactions.
Until May 2023, OKX failed to implement adequate transaction monitoring, allowing over five billion US$ in suspicious transactions and illicit proceeds to flow through its system.
As part of its plea agreement, OKX has retained an external compliance consultant, whom it will continue working with until February 2027.
The company has agreed to forfeit US$420.3 million and pay an additional criminal fine of US$84.4 million.
Due to its cooperation with the investigation, OKX received a 25% reduction in its fine.
The FBI’s New York Field Office led the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Illicit Finance & Money Laundering Unit, with Assistant US Attorneys Christopher D. Brumwell, Eli J. Mark, and Vladislav Vainberg handling the matter.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
