Apple Store India Removes Illegal Crypto Exchange Apps

Image: Iphone Source : Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

Apple has removed several crypto exchange apps from its App Store in India. This move comes after a notice of strict compliance from the Indian government regarding nine crypto entities that are not registered in India.

On December 28, 2023, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Indian Ministry of Finance issued a notice to Binance, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, Bittrex, and Bitfinex for operating illegally in India.

The FIU notice stated that any exchange offering services to Indian users must register as a "reporting entity" and submit reports to the income tax department.

The FIU recommended the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the exchange sites due to non-compliance.

Although these apps are no longer accessible to new users in India through the Apple App Store, they remain available on the Google Play Store and their respective websites.

Indian Government's Stance on Crypto Assets

Image : chart Source : Photo by Nick Chong on Unsplash

The Indian crypto community has long called for a balanced crypto regulatory framework, but despite some assurances, the Indian Ministry of Finance has not presented a crypto bill in parliament.

Last year, the country imposed a 30% tax on virtual currencies, further tightening the operational landscape for crypto companies in the nation.

Despite these measures, crypto exchanges based in India with stringent KYC verification, such as CoinDCX, Kuber, WazirX, and CoinSwitch, continue to operate, experiencing an influx of deposits following the FIU's actions.

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