The Indian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) accused a number of major cryptocurrency exchanges of operating without registration and violating anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The FIU issued the following warning:
- Binance;
- KuCoin;
- Huobi;
- Kraken;
- Gate.io;
- Bittrex;
- Bitstamp;
- MEXC Global;
- Bitfinex.
The regulator also demanded that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology block the domains of the listed companies in the country. The notice, however, does not specify any timeframe or consequences of non-compliance.
In early 2021, India reported a possible legislative ban on cryptocurrencies, with talk even turning to criminal liability for owners. Mid-year there were reports that authorities would legalise digital currencies as an asset class.
However, in November there was again talk of the government’s intention to ban most “private currencies”. This sparked local-market panic, leading to a short-term local dip in Bitcoin’s price by 15%.
Despite the lack of a formal legal framework, in 2022 India tightened levies on traders and investors, and later the central bank chief Shaktikanta Das warned investors against investing in cryptocurrency.
In July 2023, the Supreme Court announced a reprimand to the local government for delaying the development of the regulatory framework for digital assets.