On August 25, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at five sites connected to CoinSwitch Kuber as part of an investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange’s alleged violations of forex rules. The business, which was established in 2017, is being investigated to see if it purchased shares worth more than $250 million (or around Rs. 1,997 crore) in violation of foreign exchange regulations. The ED, India’s financial authority, is also looking into CoinSwitch for failing to comply with certain know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
Regarding this development, CoinSwitch released a statement that was fairly general in nature and vouched for coordination with the relevant authorities.
“We get inquiries from different governmental organisations. Transparency has always been the cornerstone of our strategy. We constantly communicate with all stakeholders in the cryptocurrency market, which is still in its infancy but has a lot of potential, according to a company spokeswoman.
As of right moment, the ED hasn’t provided extensive specifics on what it discovered after scanning CoinSwitch-related locations.Senior CoinSwitch executives’ homes and offices were also examined by ED inspectors, according to a CoinTelegraph article.
Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have recently had some struggles.
The ED sent notices against CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, and WazirX in July about alleged money laundering activities.The ED also launched an investigation into the WazirX cryptocurrency exchange in August due to potential predatory lending practises. According to the investigating authorities, a number of Chinese loan lending companies that were prohibited from functioning in India were utilising WazirX to send money abroad using cryptocurrency.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has issued a warning amid these back-to-back clashes between law enforcement agents and Indian crypto businesses.
Sitharaman cautioned members of the Indian crypto community earlier this month to exercise prudence with their investments and protect themselves from financial hazards.
According to a recent survey from the KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange, India currently has over 115 million cryptocurrency investors, or 15% of the country’s enormous population.
