WazirX

Financial Intelligence Unit, an Indian government agency which scrutinizes financial transactions, said Thursday nine global crypto exchanges — including Binance, Kraken, Kucoin and Mexc — are operating “illegally” in the country without complying with the local anti-money laundering act and asked the IT Ministry to block their websites. Global crypto exchanges are required to comply with India’s anti-money laundering rules and cannot evade the guidelines just because they don’t have physical presence in the country, the government agency said. Cryptocurrencies were brought into the ambit of anti-money laundering / counter financing of terrorism framework in India in March this year. India began taxing virtual currencies last year, levying a 30% tax on the gains and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction. “Most Indian crypto exchanges are FIU registered entities and adhere with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.