According to reports, a senior official has verified this news. Crypto exchanges Binance and Kucoin have successfully registered as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit. Since both cryptocurrency exchanges violated India’s anti-money laundering laws, they were previously prohibited from operating there.
Bianance and Kucoin Registered With FIU India
According to reports, Binance and Kucoin, two offshore crypto exchanges, have been given permission by the Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) to function as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in the nation. Vivek Aggarwal, the director of FIU-IND, told media
“So Kucoin and Binance have got registered with FIU India … We are now having a full visibility of transactions that we need and the STR (suspicious transaction report) submission process will start soon.”
This development followed Kucoin’s successful resolution of prior non-compliance issues. Later led to the imposition of a fine of Rs 35.5 lakh and the lifting of its website ban. Meanwhile, the penalties for Binance are still being calculated following a temporary ban imposed earlier this year for regulatory violations. Previously, Binance was expected to re-enter the Indian crypto market after paying a fine of $2 million.
The Nine Affected Crypto Platforms
In December of last year, the Indian government ordered the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to prevent access to cryptocurrency exchanges that operate offshore and are considered to be illegal within the nation. The Bitfinex, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, and Binance cryptocurrency platforms were among the nine impacted.
Aggarwal clarified that the establishment of distinct corporate entities in India is not mandatory for offshore bitcoin exchanges. He clarified, though, that “there has to be a principal compliance officer who gets registered with FIU, India, and whose address and details are available to FIU for interacting.” As of right now, the FIU-IND is in charge of 47 organizations that trade or manage cryptocurrencies in India.
