India's Apple App Store Removes International Crypto Exchange Apps Amid Regulatory Push
Summary:
Following a non-compliance notice from India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Apple's app store in India has removed various crypto exchange apps like Binance, KuCoin, Bitget, Huobi, OKX, Gate, and MEXC. However, these apps are still available on Google's Play Store. Amidst a high tax regime in India on crypto trading, Indian users had turned to international exchanges, which are now blocked. The move by Indian government aligns with the requests for higher crypto regulation and reflects the demand raised during the G-20 summit for a global collaboration on cryptocurrency regulation.
Apple's app store in India has removed the apps of various crypto exchanges, including, but not limited to, Binance, KuCoin, Bitget, Huobi, OKX, Gate, and MEXC. This decision follows a non-compliance warning served to nearly a dozen international crypto trading platforms by the Indian authorities. Consequently, these exchange applications will not be available for new users in the country.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Indian finance ministry issued a warning on Dec. 28 to Binance, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, Bittrex, and Bitfenex for operating illegally within Indian boundaries. According to the FIU notice, these exchange platforms must be registered as 'reporting entities' and present statements to the income tax department if they wish to cater to Indian users. The FIU also suggested to the IT Ministry to ban these non-compliant exchanges' websites.
Although the Indian Apple app store has removed the crypto exchange apps flagged by the FIU, Google's Play Store still hosts them.
Sumit Gupta, the founder of Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, took to social media to express his views on the ban of international crypto exchanges. He also provided an alternate plan for investors seeking to migrate from non-compliant foreign exchanges to compliant Indian ones.
India's imposition of a 30% crypto tax and a 1% deduction at the source of each crypto trade has caused a significant drop in crypto exchanges' volume. In response, Indian users sought out foreign crypto exchanges to bypass the stringent tax structure. Therefore, the latest move by Indian authorities effectively restricts the use of foreign exchanges.
The government's most recent actions coincide with demands for increased regulation. At the G-20 summit, the Indian authorities urged for an international collaboration for crypto regulation. Even though the Indian crypto community has been advocating for a more balanced crypto regulation, the finance ministry hasn't presented the crypto bill in parliament yet.
Binance had not given any comments on Cointelegraph's request at the time of release.
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Published At
1/10/2024 10:58:57 AM
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