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 operating illegally in India without complying with anti-money laundering regulations.
The affected entities include Weex International Exchange LTD (Weex), BLF Global Limited (Blofin), 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).
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. These notices require blocking public access to the applications/URLs of these non-compliant entities.
Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers were brought under the Anti Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in March 2023. The regulation requires all VDA SPs operating in India - whether offshore or onshore - to register with FIU-IND as Reporting Entities and comply with PMLA obligations including reporting, record keeping, and other compliance requirements. These obligations are activity-based and not contingent on physical presence in India.
The notice explicitly warns the public that crypto products and NFTs remain unregulated in India and "can be highly risky," noting that "there may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions."