Media: Apps of nine crypto exchanges including Binance, HTX, and Bitget have been removed from the App Store in India

What’s new? Apple has removed the apps of several foreign crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, HTX, Gate, Kucoin, MEXC, Bitget, Bittrex, and Bitfinex, for AppStore users in India. Earlier, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of India accused all these platforms (except Bitget) of not complying with AML laws and asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block their websites in the country.

Cointelegraph’s material

What else is known? Bitstamp exchange was also on the FUI list, but its app is still available in the country. At the same time, the app of the OKX platform, which was not mentioned in the FUI appeal, has disappeared from the App Store in India.

That said, users who have already installed the apps on their devices can continue to access them. In addition, all apps are still available on Google Play for Android OC, and websites are also still up and running.

Indian traders began to switch to global exchanges en masse after the authorities imposed a 30% tax on cryptocurrency profits and began charging 1% for each crypto transaction. Local platforms such as CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, and WazirX require new users to undergo a strict identification procedure (KYC). As a result, the trading volume on WazirX fell by 97% in two years.

At the same time, the industry association has previously repeatedly appealed to the authorities with warnings that the new tax policy will force users to switch to decentralized platforms and turn to unregulated services. The day before, CoinDCX announced that it would offer rewards to customers for transferring assets from global exchanges to its platform.

India’s central bank opposed the integration of cryptocurrencies into the financial system

According to the regulator, in its current form, such assets do not bring benefits to the economy

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Although the Central Bank’s ban on cryptocurrencies was overturned by India’s Supreme Court, the regulator maintains a negative view of the asset class, comparing it to a pyramid scheme.

US crypto exchange Coinbase ceased operations in India in 2022. The head of the company Brian Armstrong referred to “soft pressure” from the Central Bank.

At the same time, only from March 2021 to March 2022, the number of crypto users in India increased by 421% — from 17 million to 90 million people. And in September 2023, Chainalysis analysts placed India at the top of the ranking of countries in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.