Crypto exchange Binance completes initial registration with FIU-IND, further compliance proceedings still on

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World’s largest crypto exchange Binance got registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit in India (FIU-IND), months after nine offshore exchanges in India were blocked for not following local anti-money laundering regulations.

This registration is, however, an initial step, as the compliance processes are still on. The exchange will be operational in India only after the completion of these processes and payment of a penalty fee is yet to be decided.

Binance’s registration comes close on the heels of rival KuCoin signing up in March. Meanwhile, OKX decided to discontinue its services in India from April 30.

According to Vivek Aggarwal, Director, FIU-IND and Additional Secretary Department of Revenue Government of India, KuCoin is fully registered and operational now after paying a penalty fee of Rs 34.5 lakh.

“Binance’s operations have not yet resumed and the quantum of penalty is yet to be decided. Binance, as of now, has completed the initial registration with FIU-IND. Its penalty and compliance proceedings are still going on,” Aggarwal added, speaking at a workshop conducted by industry body Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) in New Delhi on May 10.

The workshop was attended by FIU-IND officials, BWA representatives and 60 representatives from across 35 REs. These included founders/senior leaders from CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, WazirX, Mudrex, Unocoin, Pi42, Giottus, highlighting the importance that the VDA (virtual digital asset) players accord to PMLA compliance. The workshop also saw participation from Kucoin, the first international exchange registered with FIU-IND.

Also read: There is lack of support from Indian banking sector: KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu

In December end, around nine offshore exchanges including KuCoin, Binance, OKX, Houbi among others were found to be not registered under FIU-IND and weren’t aligned with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Following this, the government had ordered to block the URLs of these exchanges in India in January. Even their apps were delisted from the Apple and Google’s app stores.