NEW DELHI: The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has issued notices to 15 crypto service providers for non-compliance with provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
The notices have been issued by the Director, FIU-IND, under Section 13 of the PMLA as part of compliance action against non-compliant Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs).
15 crypto service providers named by FIU-India
The 15 VDA service providers named in the notices are:
| No. | Crypto platform | Entity name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weex | Weex International Exchange LTD |
| 2 | Blofin | BLF Global Limited |
| 3 | Rezorex | RezorEx |
| 4 | Bitunix | Bitunix LLC |
| 5 | DigiFinex | DigiFinex Ltd |
| 6 | Toobit | Hopeful Technology Co. Ltd. |
| 7 | XT.com | Fibtc Ltd/ XT TECHNICAL PTE. LTD. |
| 8 | Latoken | LAtrade Ltd |
| 9 | WOO X | Wootech Limited |
| 10 | Pionex | Marketa Trading Inc. |
| 11 | ChangeNow | CHN Group LLC |
| 12 | SimpleSwap | SimpleSwap LTD |
| 13 | Fixedfloat | FFGX Group LLC |
| 14 | WhiteBIT | UAB Clear White Technologies |
| 15 | Guardarian | FinSeven CZ |
FIU-India seeks takedown of crypto apps and URLs
The Director, FIU-IND, has also issued notices with respect to the aforesaid entities to take down their applications and URLs for public access.
According to the Finance Ministry, the applications and URLs were found to be operating illegally without complying with the relevant provisions of the PMLA in India.
Crypto service providers must comply with PMLA
Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers were brought under the Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework under the PMLA in March 2023.
VDA SPs operating in India, whether offshore or onshore, and engaged in activities such as exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual digital assets, and safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets, are required to register with FIU-IND as reporting entities.
They are also required to comply with obligations under the PMLA and rules framed under it. These obligations include reporting, record keeping and registration with FIU-IND.
The regulatory requirements are activity-based and are not contingent on the physical presence of an entity in India.
FIU-IND also cautioned the general public that crypto products and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unregulated and can be highly risky. It said there may be no regulatory recourse for any loss arising from such transactions.
