India delists nine exchanges including Binance and Kraken, official websites, Google, and Apple stores blocked

Table of Contents

India Fully Blocks Nine Offshore Exchanges

The Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND), a department under the Ministry of Finance in India, issued compliance notices to nine well-known offshore exchanges on December 28 last year, accusing them of illegal operations and violating anti-money laundering regulations.

The nine exchanges include:

1. Huobi

2. Bittrex

3. Gate.io

4. Kraken

5. KuCoin

6. Binance

7. Bitfinex

8. Bitstamp

9. MEXC Global

Subsequently, Indian authorities began removing the above exchanges from the Apple App Store on January 10 and blocked their official websites the following day. By January 14, the apps of these major exchanges were also removed from the Indian Google Play Store.

Binance: Existing Users with App Downloaded Are Unaffected

Prior to the removal of its Android app, Binance stated:

Existing users who have downloaded the Binance app are not affected. We are committed to complying with local regulations and laws and maintaining active communication with regulatory authorities to ensure user protection and the healthy development of the Web3 industry.

In December, warnings were issued, and Binance, Kraken, and eight other exchanges were removed from the Indian App Store

India Imposes Heavy Taxes on Crypto Trading, Exchanges Struggle

In September last year, Coinbase also notified Indian users that it would cease 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 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 halt its trading services in India.

Coinbase Denies Halting Indian Operations, Reflecting the Ongoing Challenges in the Indian Market

Additionally, India began imposing 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 to be Implemented, Plans to Issue Digital Rupee by 2023