Apple has removed the mobile apps of several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, OKX, and KuCoin, from its App Store in India. This comes after the Indian government agency
responsible for monitoring financial transactions, the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND), issued warnings to these exchanges alleging non-compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering
In late December 2023, the FIU-IND sent show-cause notices to nine cryptocurrency exchanges, raising concerns about the legality of their operations in India. The exchanges named were Binance, Kucoin, Houbi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex. The key allegation was that these exchanges failed to register with Indian authorities and follow local tax laws. Responding quickly to these regulatory warnings, Apple removed the apps of all nine exchanges from its App Store in India. While existing users who had already downloaded the apps can still access them, new users cannot download them anymore. The apps remain available on the Google Play Store for now, but Google may also remove them soon given the similar concerns raised.
The issue around offshore cryptocurrency exchanges operating in India without proper registration came up in early December 2022 during a parliamentary session. Subsequently, in response to regulatory tightening, many Indian traders have shifted to global platforms, possibly to evade taxes imposed in India last year. However, such offshore exchanges have not adhered to the strict Indian know-your-customer norms. In summary, Apple’s app removal, on top of heavy crypto taxes in India, highlights the growing scrutiny
and challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry there as regulators crack down.
#Binance #Apple #AppStore #India #Regulation #Cryptocurrency #Exchanges
