Indian Govt Scrutinizes Crypto Exchanges! Charges Include INR 1000C Laundering

The Indian government is cracking down on several crypto exchanges on accounts of scam accusations

India's Enforcement Directorate is conducting a thorough investigation against ten crypto exchanges that are being accused of laundering around INR 1 billion, which is equivalent to over US$125 million in terms of cryptocurrencies. The Enforcement Directorate of India is basically the economic intelligence agency in India. The organization is responsible for enforcing economic law and fighting crimes related to finance and the economy. The ED is currently chasing several Indian crypto companies that are accused of money laundering to make cryptocurrency purchases that were sent to other international wallets, which were mostly linked to China.

According to reports, the ED froze around US$8 million worth of assets that belonged to the India-based crypto exchange WazirX, which is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India by volume. In an interview, an official from the ED has recently demonstrated saying that similar transactions have taken place in other crypto exchanges as well. Presently, WazirX is actively assisting the ED in investing in around 16 fintech companies that are also alleged for money laundering using cryptocurrencies.

The probe comes at a time when the Indian crypto economy is at its worst. The government is constantly cracking down on the crypto market, and enhancing regulatory measures. Indian investors are readily leaving the crypto market amidst the adverse conditions that India's digital asset ecosystem is currently facing. The ED's crackdown on these crypto companies is only making things worst for the country's digital asset infrastructure.

Sources noted that these exchanges collected KYC data from users. These accounts belonged to people mostly living in remote areas with basically no connection or access to transactions. However, the exchanges denied these claims and said that they had always been complying with KYC regulations, the ED has also failed to produce any suspicious transaction reports that could yield proof of the presumed money laundering accusations. Nevertheless, the present status of the Indian cryptocurrency ecosystem is worsening the already degenerating conditions of the wider crypto market.