Binance in India Now Approved to Resume Operations

Key Points:

• Binance in India resumed business after complying with registration requirements.
• Registered exchanges are now required to collect a transaction tax, which has impacted trading volumes and raised competitive concerns among local exchanges.

According to Bloomberg, Binance and some other major cryptocurrency exchanges have resumed activities in India after being forced to wind down activities late last year for non-compliance with local regulations.

Read more: Ex-Binance Indian Affiliate Is Now Booming In Indian

Binance in India Resumed Operations

Earlier, Binance in India was banned due to failure to get itself registered with the local authorities—the prerequisite to legally operate in the country.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, mentioned in its Thursday announcement that its website and app became available in India following its May registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit. Likewise, another Seychelles-based exchange, KuCoin, said it re-entered India in April after registering with the FIU.

New Tax Regulations Impact Trading Volumes

According to regulations in force in India, crypto exchanges are compulsorily required to collect the transaction tax or TDS from their users and are registered with the FIU.

Introduced in 2022, the tax had some notable effects on trading volumes across the country while raising competitive concerns for local exchanges. KuCoin has thus confirmed that it collected this tax since its resumption of operations, while a spokesperson at Binance is reportedly quoted saying that the company’s practices were within the current applicable laws.

For the past year, India has been cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges operating offshore without proper registration. The authorities have targeted nine cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin, Kraken, and HTX.

The enforcing of these regulations has changed the competitive landscape in India. WazirX, formerly a partner of Binance in India and a major local rival, has suspended all trading, withdrawals, and deposits following a $235 million hack last month.