If you’ve been using international crypto platforms from India, things might be about to change. The Indian government is stepping up its efforts to regulate digital assets, and offshore cryptocurrency exchanges are now firmly in its sights. In a major move, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), the country’s anti-money laundering watchdog, has issued notices to 25 foreign crypto exchanges for operating in the country without proper registration or compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws.
Exchanges such as BingX, LBank, CoinW, ProBit Global, BTCC, AscendEX, Zoomex, and Poloniex have all come under scrutiny. The government is demanding that these platforms take down their apps and websites within India — though, as of now, most of them are still accessible.
Why is this happening now? Back in March 2023, the Indian finance ministry extended the scope of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to include virtual asset service providers. That means any crypto exchange serving Indian users is required to register with the FIU and follow strict reporting rules. These rules are meant to help prevent illegal activities like money laundering and terror financing — both of which can be facilitated through anonymous crypto transactions.
Currently, around 50 crypto platforms have registered with the Indian authorities, including major names like Binance, Coinbase, and KuCoin. These exchanges initially faced similar issues but have since complied, with Binance resuming its India operations in August 2024 and Coinbase slowly re-entering the market earlier this year. Coinbase even launched an early-access program for Indian users, though its full range of services is still in the works.
What makes this crackdown significant is the sheer scale of the unregistered exchanges being targeted. According to CoinMarketCap, 14 of the 25 platforms together hold over $9 billion in assets and saw around $20 billion in trading activity in just one day. These aren’t small players — they’re big, influential platforms with millions of users globally.
Still, many of the exchanges named have yet to issue any public response. Whether they plan to comply with Indian regulations or exit the market entirely remains unclear. What is clear, though, is that India is drawing a firm line: if you want to serve Indian users, you must play by the rules.
This development is part of a broader global trend, where governments are tightening the net around crypto markets, aiming to bring more transparency and accountability to an industry known for its volatility and lack of oversight. For Indian users, it could mean fewer platform options in the short term — but potentially safer and more regulated trading environments in the future.
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