India's FIU Registers 49 Crypto Exchanges Under AML Rules

Beincrypto reports India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said 49 cryptocurrency exchanges completed registration under the country’s anti-money laundering framework for the fiscal year 2024–25. The FIU’s annual report said 45 of the platforms are domestic and four are offshore platforms registered as reporting entities, enabling them to serve Indian users under the compliance framework.

The report notes that cryptocurrencies are legally classified as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and trading platforms as VDA Service Providers (VDA SPs), which were brought under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2023. As reporting entities, VDA SPs must submit Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), identify and report beneficial ownership of wallets, monitor fundraising such as ICOs or token offerings, and track transfers between hosted and unhosted wallets.

The FIU said its strategic analysis of STRs highlighted persistent risks across the crypto ecosystem, including the use of crypto for hawala operations, illegal gambling, and complex fraud schemes. "However, VDAs, VDA SPs have certain potential money laundering and terror financing risks, owing to their global reach, capacity for rapid settlement, ability to enable peer-to-peer transactions, and potential for increased anonymity and obfuscation of transaction flows and counterparties," the report read.

Key Topics

Crypto, Financial Intelligence Unit, India, Virtual Digital Assets, Vda Service Providers, Pmla