India's App Store has already removed eight exchanges including Binance and Kraken, even though the warning was issued in December.
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India App Store Removes Numerous Exchanges
According to TechCrunch, 8 mainstream cryptocurrency exchange apps, including Binance, Kraken, Mexc, and Kucoin, have been removed from the India Apple App Store. The exchanges are:
Huobi
Bittrex
Gate.io
Kraken
KuCoin
Binance
Bitfinex
MEXC Global
The Financial Intelligence Unit India, FIU IND, a department under the Indian Ministry of Finance, issued compliance notices to nine well-known offshore exchanges on December 28 last year, including those listed above, accusing them of illegal operations and violating anti-money laundering regulations.
Bitstamp is also among the nine non-compliant exchanges but is still operational on the India App Store.
Furthermore, these exchange apps are still available on the India Google Play Store, and their websites are accessible. Apple has not responded to TechCrunch's request for comments.
Illegal operations and non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws prompt Indian authorities to block nine mainstream exchanges
India Imposes Heavy Taxes on Crypto Trading, Exchanges Struggle
Last September, Coinbase also notified Indian users that it would cease its services and advised them to withdraw funds from their accounts. However, a Coinbase spokesperson told the media at the time that this was only for accounts that no longer met the updated standards.
However, in May 2022, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that due to "informal pressure" from the Reserve Bank of India, Coinbase had to temporarily suspend its trading services in India.
Coinbase denies halting operations in India, highlighting ongoing challenges in the Indian market
Additionally, India began levying a 30% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency and NFTs last year, along with a 1% tax on each crypto transaction.
Indian Regulation: 30% Capital Gains Tax on NFTs and Cryptocurrency, Digital Rupee Expected by 2023