Binance registers with FIU-IND, pays Rs 18.8 crore fine to restart operations in India
Binance has registered with India’s virtual digital asset (VDA) monitoring agency FIU-IND after paying a penalty of Rs 18.82 crore, lifting a seven-month ban on its website and mobile application in India.
Binance registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) marks its 19th global regulatory milestone, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
“Recognising the vitality and potential of the Indian VDA market, this alignment with Indian regulations allows us to tailor our services for Indian users,” said Richard Teng, chief executive of Binance. “It is a privilege to extend the reach of our cutting-edge platform to this thriving market, supporting India’s continued VDA evolution.”
India leads the world in grassroots crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis’ 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Binance said. The country ranked in the top five by estimated transaction volume across centralized and decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and token smart contracts.
Back in June, FIU-IND had imposed a penalty of Rs 18.82 crore on Binance, citing non-compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering law.
This is the highest penalty imposed by India on a crypto entity so far.
In December 2023, the intelligence unit of the finance ministry, which is tasked with supervision of trade in VDAs, had issued notices to Binance and eight other global crypto exchanges, warning that their operations had not been in compliance with local laws and seeking their response. In January, they were banned from
