India Tightens Crypto Oversight with 49 Registered Exchanges and ₹2.8 Billion Penalties
India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) has registered 49 cryptocurrency exchanges for the 2024–25 fiscal year, marking a significant step toward regulatory clarity. The list includes 45 domestic platforms and four offshore entities, all now bound by anti-money laundering (AML) provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Non-compliant exchanges faced steep penalties totaling ₹2.8 billion, signaling rigorous enforcement. The framework mandates real-time transaction monitoring, wallet ownership tracking, and suspicious activity reporting—a MOVE that aligns with global financial surveillance standards while accommodating India's booming digital asset market.
FIU-IND's annual report emphasizes strategic focus on inter-wallet cash movements and VDA-related transactions. This regulatory scaffolding arrives as institutional interest in cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH accelerates nationwide, though no specific exchanges were named in the disclosure.