Binance and KuCoin Eyes Return to India with FIU Registration

Binance and KuCoin, two of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, have secured registrations from India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), according to a May 10 report from CoinDesk. 

The approval marks a crucial step towards their potential re-entry into the Indian market, months after they were banned for alleged illegal operations.

Detailed Registration Process and Challenges Ahead

The FIU-IND, which operates under the Finance Ministry, has granted approvals to these exchanges as part of a broader initiative to bring offshore crypto-related entities under its regulatory purview. 

These registrations come after more than nine offshore entities, including major players like Huobi, Kraken, and Bitfinex, were banned at the end of last year. The ban was imposed due to their failure to comply with local laws and regulations.

KuCoin has taken a proactive step by paying a penalty of $41,000, which has allowed it to resume operations in India. Conversely, Binance is still in the midst of compliance proceedings, with a penalty yet to be determined. 

The head of FIU-IND, Vivek Aggarwal, says Binance is registered, but the compliance proceedings are not complete as the amount of penalty needed is yet to be decided.

Compliance with Local Laws and Future Operations

The return of these exchanges is predicated on strict adherence to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and compliance with the Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) taxation framework. Binance, in particular, is expected to make significant adjustments. 

Binance reportedly violated local tax laws, which allowed traders to bypass the 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) that is mandatory for registered exchanges. Binance held nearly 90% of the estimated $4-billion cryptocurrency holdings of Indian nationals before the ban.

According to CoinMarketCap, Binance recorded a trading volume of $15.23 billion in the last 24 hours, accounting for 25% of the global cryptocurrency trade volume.