The Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU) has issued notifications regarding the non-compliance of 15 offshore virtual digital asset service providers and requested the blocking of their websites and applications. This is due to the alleged operation of these platforms within the country without fulfilling the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The Ministry of Finance reported on Wednesday that the listed platforms include Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT, and Guardarian.
FIU-IND issued these notifications in accordance with Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and also secured measures to remove these platforms' applications and URLs from public access in India.
Virtual digital asset service providers were brought under the scope of PMLA in March 2023. Companies providing services such as exchanging virtual digital assets for fiat currencies, transferring, or storing such assets, are required to register with FIU-IND as reporting entities. This requirement applies to platforms serving Indian users, even if they do not have a physical presence in the country.
Registered entities must comply with obligations related to customer due diligence, record-keeping, and reporting suspicious transactions. These actions are being taken amid increased scrutiny by Indian authorities over offshore crypto platforms operating with local users.
Previously, FIU-IND had already taken action against crypto exchanges operating in India without registration, including issuing compliance notices and demanding restrictions on access to their websites and applications. The government emphasizes that virtual digital assets do not have the status of legal tender in India and has repeatedly warned investors about the risks associated with crypto assets. Under Section 13 of PMLA, FIU-IND has the right to issue warnings, mandate reporting entities to take corrective measures, and impose monetary penalties for non-compliance with the law.