India Will Block Binance, Kraken, and Other Exchanges in Crypto Crackdown

In the latest turn of global governments against the crypto industry, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced Thursday that it has requested the effective ban of nine crypto exchanges within the country, including Binance and Kraken. 

The agency, which regulates suspicious financial activity, issued a statement stating that the exchanges are operating illegally in India by failing to both register with the FIU and comply with national anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations. 

The FIU has thus requested that the websites of these exchanges—Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitsamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex—be blocked in India by the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, until further notice. 

“Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) operating in India… are required to be registered with FIU IND as Reporting Entity and comply with the set of obligations as mandated under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002,” the FIU said.

So far, 31 such virtual digital asset service providers have registered with the FIU, the agency said. However, a “substantial” number of Indian users opted to use exchanges that were unregistered, prompting the latest regulatory action.

The development marks the latest action against major crypto exchanges by national governments. Last month, the U.S. government imposed a $4.3 billion fine against Binance for failing to comply with anti-money laundering laws, and got the exchange to agree to cease operations in the country. 

Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, agreed as part of the historic settlement to step down as the company’s CEO and plead guilty to criminal violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Zhao is currently banned from leaving the United States; he faces sentencing in February.

Edited by Andrew Hayward