CoinSwitch exchange was raided over alleged forex law breaches on Thursday, when anti-money laundering (AML) official inspected five of the company’s offices in India.
According to a Bloomberg article dated August 25, the Enforcement Directorate of India examined CoinSwitch Kuber’s offices as well as the homes of its directors and CEO Ashish Singhal.
According to the magazine, the crypto exchange is suspected of violating currency rules by purchasing shares worth more than $250 million, as well as being non-compliant with certain know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
A federal law enforcement and intelligence organization under the Ministry of Finance is known as the Directorate of Enforcement. The agency’s principal goal, according to its website, is to enforce laws such as the Foreign Exchange Management Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In a statement, CoinSwitch Kuber stated:
“We receive queries from various government agencies. Our approach has always been that of transparency.”
“Crypto is an early stage industry with a lot of potential and we continuously engage with all stakeholders.”
CoinSwitch Kuber, which launched in India in 2020, is one of the major crypto exchanges in India, alongside WazirX and CoinDCX, with over 18 million registered users.
CoinSwitch Kuber became a “unicorn” last year after receiving $260 million in a Series C fundraising round headed by Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Sequoia, Paradigm, Ribbit, and Tiger Global are also investors.
The steps are in response to India’s ongoing crackdown on the cryptocurrency market.
The Enforcement Directorate froze around $8.1 million in money from crypto exchange WazirX earlier last month, charging that the crypto exchange enabled transactions by unidentified fintech businesses to buy crypto assets and subsequently launder them overseas.
This year has also seen the government implement two new legislation requiring severe taxes on unrealized profits and transactions tied to cryptocurrency.
In a recent poll of 2042 Indian cryptocurrency investors done by crypto exchange KuCoin, 33% of respondents expressed concern over confusing government laws that might hinder future investors into crypto.
Latest Crypto News In India
Recently, the India Blockchain Forum was launched in India, which is a collection and collaboration of major Indian blockchain influencers. These influencers have experience in trading, Metaverse, NFT, cybercrime and other areas of the industry.
The Forum aims to make India the global hub of Web3. But just how it will be able to do that with government crackdowns on the industry happening daily, is a mystery. The latest of the crackdowns was that the CoinSwitch exchange was raided over alleged forex law breaches.
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