India Investigates “Multiple” Crypto Money Laundering Cases, Seizes Over $115M

India’s Law Enforcement Directorate is investigating “several” crypto cases for money laundering schemes and has seized $115.5 million so far in such crimes, the ministry said of Finance, the latest in a series of crackdowns by authorities on the nascent space that is already reeling. shaky market conditions.

India’s crime agency has also arrested five people for crimes instigated by cryptocurrency and in the past sent a show cause notice to local exchange WazirX and its principals for crypto transactions exceeding 338 million. dollars, the ministry said.

The disclosure comes at a time India is pushing rules to better control the activities of cryptocurrency firms, even as New Delhi has so far resisted formulating a blanket law to regulate assets. virtual digital.

Last week, the Ministry of Finance said (PDF) that crypto will be governed by anti-money laundering rules in the South Asian market. As part of the new change, crypto exchanges, NFT providers, and custodial wallet operators will be responsible for monitoring suspicious financial activity.

Companies operating in the crypto space will be required to perform know your customer checks. “Exchanges and wallet providers will be required to implement AML/CFT controls, and be licensed or registered and supervised or monitored by national authorities,” the finance ministry said this week.

India, in its current G20 presidency, has also said it will prioritize the development of a global regulatory framework for unbacked crypto assets, stablecoins and decentralized finance.

Last year, New Delhi took a strict approach with cryptocurrencies by levying a 30% tax on all winnings and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction. The country’s move, alongside the market downturn, has severely depleted the transactions that local exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber, backed by Sequoia India and Andreessen Horowitz, and CoinDCX, backed by Pantera, process in the country.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder and CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, told TechCrunch last year that the company does not view India as a “very crypto-friendly environment.” He said the company was trying to raise concerns with the local authority about local taxation, but said tax policies usually take a long time to change.