Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has resumed operations for Indian customers following a temporary halt imposed by local authorities due to allegations that it was operating illegally within the country.
Thursday, the firm has registered as a reporting entity with India’s Monetary Intelligence Unit (MIU), responsible for monitoring and analyzing financial transactions to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Following a recommendation from India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), India has partnered with five major cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, and MexC – to curb financial crimes. Offshore exchanges operated by the Financial Institutions International (FIU) sought registration domestically to align with the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations, thereby adjusting to the national framework.
The Financial Institution of Uruguay’s transferred office received complaints from numerous local cryptocurrency exchanges that they were experiencing a decline in business due to their inability to compete with non-compliant foreign crypto exchanges, prompting them to express concerns to the Ministry of Finance.
Binance’s website and mobile apps are now operational again in India. Binance has reached its 19th regulatory milestone after successfully complying with the requirements of the Indian authority.
As announced by Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, “Our registration with the Financial Institution and User Identification (FIU-IND) represents a significant turning point in our company’s development.”
By acknowledging the vibrancy and untapped potential of India’s VDA sector, we can now optimize our offerings to specifically cater to the unique needs of Indian clients in compliance with local regulations. “It’s an honor to bring our pioneering platform to this dynamic market, driving India’s next-level VDA advancement.”
Despite being a crucial foreign market for global technology giants, India’s cryptocurrency landscape remains surprisingly underwhelming. Over the past five years, the Reserve Bank of India has consistently applied significant pressure on banks to sever ties with cryptocurrency companies, while the government’s strict tax regulations have sharply curtailed domestic interest in digital assets.
Despite efforts to overcome these regulatory and monetary obstacles. In a devastating turn of events, FTX, a once-thriving neighborhood with strong ties to Binance, suffered a catastrophic blow when nearly half of its reserves went missing, dealing yet another significant setback to local entrepreneurs’ tireless efforts to push for a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the country.
