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In response to a show-cause notice from the Finance Ministry regarding non-compliance with India’s money laundering laws, Apple has removed Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, from its App Store, reported Economic Times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Reportedly, the Financial Intelligence Unit, operating under the Finance Ministry, issued notices to nine offshore virtual digital asset (VDA) service providers, including Binance<\/a>, for operating in the country without adhering to anti-money laundering regulations.<\/p>\n According to the report from the publication, the Finance Ministry had previously urged the IT Ministry to block URLs of these cryptocurrency firms, citing their unauthorized operations within the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alongside Binance, other apps such as Kucoin and OKX have also been removed from the App Store, adds the report. Binance is currently under investigation in the United States for violating anti-money laundering laws.<\/p>\n In 2023, the Indian government implemented anti-money laundering regulations for the cryptocurrency sector, signaling increased scrutiny of digital assets in line with global efforts. This move followed a significant setback in 2022 when authorities imposed transaction taxes on local crypto exchanges<\/a>, leading to a substantial decline in trading volumes.<\/p>\n A show-cause notice is issued when there are suspicions of misconduct by an individual or entity. It serves as an official request for the person or entity to provide evidence demonstrating their compliance with the laws of India.<\/p>\n As per Bloomberg, domestic exchanges have expressed dissatisfaction, asserting that the recent tax measure prompted Indian cryptocurrency traders to shift to offshore platforms without such levies, causing additional harm to their revenues. Sumit Gupta, the Chief Executive Officer of CoinDCX, approximated in October that about 95% of trading volume had migrated to offshore platforms.<\/p>\n In 2021, Bloomberg News disclosed that India’s anti-money laundering agency was investigating whether Binance <\/a>played a part in a probe related to betting apps. Over the past year, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has faced growing regulatory scrutiny globally.<\/p>\n (With inputs from Bloomberg)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n