By Which Crypto Platforms Face Action In India?
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has issued non-compliance notices to 15 crypto platforms for allegedly operating in the country without meeting anti-money laundering requirements, putting the exchanges and service providers at risk of losing access to Indian users.
The Financial Intelligence Unit-India, or FIU-IND, named Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, FixedFloat, WhiteBIT and Guardarian.
The agency also sought the removal of the platforms’ applications and website URLs from public access in India, saying they were providing virtual digital asset services without complying with obligations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The action expands India’s enforcement campaign beyond the larger offshore exchanges targeted in earlier rounds and shows that smaller and mid-sized crypto platforms remain subject to the same registration requirements when serving Indian customers.
The consequences could include app-store restrictions, website blocking and the loss of direct access to one of the world’s largest pools of crypto users unless the platforms move toward FIU registration.
Why Does India Require Offshore Exchanges To Register?
India extended its anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism rules to virtual digital asset service providers in March 2023. The framework applies to both domestic and offshore companies if they provide services to Indian customers.
Physical presence in India is not required for the rules to apply. Crypto companies serving the market are expected to register with FIU-IND, maintain transaction and customer records, conduct required compliance checks and report suspicious activity.
That gives Indian authorities a route to pursue offshore platforms even when the companies have no local office or corporate entity in the country.
The policy has already changed how major exchanges approach India. Binance returned to the market in 2024 after registering with FIU-IND and paying a penalty of INR 18.82 crore, approximately $2.25 million, over earlier anti-money laundering violations.
Bybit temporarily restricted services for Indian users in January 2025 while completing its registration process before restoring full app access. Coinbase also resumed onboarding users in India after registering with the financial intelligence agency.
Investor Takeaway
India is treating offshore crypto access as an AML enforcement issue rather than waiting for a comprehensive crypto licensing regime. For exchanges, FIU registration is increasingly becoming the practical requirement for maintaining access to Indian customers.
What Could The Crackdown Mean For Indian Crypto Users?
The immediate risk is reduced access to the 15 named platforms if authorities succeed in removing their apps and blocking their websites. Users with funds on affected services could also face additional friction if a platform limits Indian operations while seeking compliance.
Past cases suggest that restrictions do not necessarily mean a permanent market exit. Large exchanges have previously restored services after completing registration, indicating that compliance rather than prohibition remains the central enforcement objective.
However, the regulatory structure remains unusual. The FIU reiterated that crypto assets and non-fungible tokens remain unregulated in India despite being subject to anti-money laundering obligations.
“It is pertinent to mention for the safety and awareness of general public that the Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions,” the agency said.
That creates a distinction between financial-crime supervision and investor protection. Platforms can face strict AML requirements while users still lack the protections normally associated with fully regulated securities, banking or investment products.
Why Is India Tightening Oversight Of Offshore Crypto Activity?
The latest notices also arrive as Indian authorities face the challenge of crypto activity moving outside domestic exchanges. Stablecoins such as USDT can be transferred to offshore services and converted into other forms of value, potentially making transactions harder for local authorities to monitor through regulated Indian platforms.
That gives policymakers an incentive to expand enforcement beyond the largest global exchanges and target services that provide alternative routes for moving crypto-linked value.
FIU-IND used a similar approach in December 2023 when it issued notices to nine major offshore exchanges, including Binance, Kraken and KuCoin, and requested that access to their websites be blocked over alleged non-compliance.
The latest action suggests India intends to keep applying that model across a wider range of crypto businesses rather than limiting enforcement to the largest trading venues.
For exchanges considering the Indian market, the message is increasingly clear: serving local customers from offshore does not remove them from the country’s AML perimeter. For users, the result may be a smaller pool of easily accessible platforms as authorities push more crypto activity toward providers that have registered and accepted local reporting obligations.