Crypto Oversight Strengthens in India as 49 Exchanges Register With FIU
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has revealed that 49 cryptocurrency exchanges accomplished registration beneath the nation’s anti-money laundering framework for the fiscal yr 2024-25.
This growth represents a major step in strengthening regulatory oversight of the nation’s increasing digital asset sector.
India’s FIU Says 49 Crypto Firms Now Meet AML Standards for FY24–25
According to the FIU’s newest annual report, a lot of the registered platforms are home, with 45 exchanges operating within India. The remaining 4 are offshore platforms registered with the FIU as reporting entities. This allows them to proceed serving Indian customers beneath the nation’s compliance framework.
In India, cryptocurrencies are legally labeled as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs). Furthermore, the framework designates platforms facilitating their buying and selling as VDA Service (*49*) (VDA SPs).
In 2023, the regulators formally introduced these entities beneath the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As reporting entities, the FIU requires VDA SPs to submit Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs).
Their obligations additionally embrace figuring out and reporting useful possession of wallets, monitoring fundraising actions such as preliminary coin choices or token choices, and monitoring transfers between hosted and unhosted wallets.
In the report, the FIU acknowledged that its strategic evaluation of STRs highlighted persistent dangers across the cryptocurrency ecosystem. While acknowledging the sector’s potential for monetary innovation and wealth creation, the company warned that digital property have been exploited for critical prison exercise. Identified purple flags included the usage of crypto for hawala operations, unlawful playing, and complicated fraud schemes.
“However, VDAs, VDA SPs have sure potential cash laundering and terror financing dangers, owing to their world attain, capability for speedy settlement, capability to allow peer-to-peer transactions, and potential for elevated anonymity and obfuscation of transaction flows and counterparties,” the report learn.
The report additionally revealed that the FIU imposed complete penalties of ₹28 crore (roughly $3.1 million) in the course of the 2024–25 fiscal yr on crypto exchanges discovered to be non-compliant. In October, the regulator additionally despatched notices to 25 crypto exchanges, together with BingX, LBank, CoinW, CEX.IO, and Poloniex, for failing to adjust to the nation’s anti-money laundering guidelines.
While the crackdown continues, a number of main world exchanges have resumed operations in the Indian market. Bybit returned to the country after finishing native registration necessities and paying a $1 million penalty.
Binance additionally made its way back into India in 2024 following the cost of a $2.2 million effective. In December, Coinbase resumed user onboarding with plans to introduce a fiat on-ramp in 2026.
Parallel to trade oversight, authorities have intensified efforts in opposition to crypto-related fraud. Recent enforcement actions have dismantled a number of scams, together with a decade-long operation that defrauded investors by way of Ponzi schemes promising high returns.
The publish Crypto Oversight Strengthens in India as 49 Exchanges Register With FIU appeared first on BeInCrypto.
