The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has issued non-compliance notices to 15 Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The action targets offshore crypto exchanges including Weex International Exchange LTD, BLF Global Limited, RezorEx, Bitunix LLC, DigiFinex Ltd, Hopeful Technology Co. Ltd. (Toobit), Fibtc Ltd/XT TECHNICAL PTE. LTD. (XT.com), LAtrade Ltd (Latoken), Wootech Limited (WOO X), Marketa Trading Inc. (Pionex), CHN Group LLC (ChangeNow), SimpleSwap LTD, FFGX Group LLC (Fixedfloat), UAB Clear White Technologies (WhiteBIT), and FinSeven CZ (Guardarian) for failing to register as reporting entities and comply with PMLA obligations.
Additionally, the Director of FIU-IND issued takedown notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 read with rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2025, requesting the removal of these platforms' applications and URLs from public access since they were found operating illegally without complying with PMLA provisions in India.
The regulatory framework requires all VDA SPs operating in India, whether offshore or onshore, to register with FIU-IND as Reporting Entities and comply with reporting, record keeping, and other obligations under PMLA. These obligations are activity-based and not contingent on physical presence in India, covering activities such as exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual digital assets, safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets, or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets. VDA SPs were brought under India's Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in March 2023.
The notice includes a specific warning to the general public that crypto products and NFTs remain unregulated in India and can be highly risky, with no regulatory recourse available for any losses from such transactions.