India's FIU issues notices to 15 offshore crypto platforms

The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has issued non-compliance notices to 15 offshore virtual digital asset (VDA) service providers for failing to adhere to anti-money laundering laws. The action was taken under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In addition to the notices, the government has issued directions under the Information Technology Act to take down the applications and URLs of these platforms from public access in India. The affected entities include Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT, and Guardarian.

Under regulations established in March 2023, all VDA service providers operating in India—regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the country—must register with the FIU-IND. This requirement applies to platforms involved in exchanging virtual assets for fiat currency, transferring assets, or providing safekeeping services. The Finance Ministry also issued a warning to investors, noting that unregulated crypto products and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) carry significant risks and may offer no regulatory recourse for losses.