India Targets Major Offshore Crypto Exchanges for Non-compliance

Financial Intelligence Unit issues notices to nine platforms including Binance and KuCoin, requests URL blocking.

India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU IND) has issued compliance show cause notices to nine major offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) including Binance, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex.
These platforms are accused of operating in the Indian market without registering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which mandates compliance with Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations.
The Director of FIU IND has requested the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs of these entities to curb their illegal operation in India.
Cryptocurrencies were brought under the AML and CFT framework in India in March this year, and to date, 31 VDA SPs have successfully registered with FIU IND.
The decision is expected to have significant implications for these platforms and their user base in India, as many Indian traders have switched to global cryptocurrency platforms in recent quarters to evade taxes.