India's crypto market is not an easy one to let go of for Binance, that is now working on making a re-entry into the country. Touted as the largest exchange for cryptocurrencies in the world, Binance recently lost operational permits in India because it did not meet the compliance guidelines laid out by the Indian government for Web3 firms. The exchange is now increasing efforts to get its ban revoked in India and to do so, it is working to bring its operations in alignment with Indian laws.
Binance could be gearing up to pay $2 million (roughly Rs. 16.7 crore) to the Indian government in penalties, The Economic Times reported on Thursday, April 19, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The platform is reportedly working to register with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to return as an entity, officially licenced to operate in India. It is also working to comply with India taxation framework for digital assets along with agreeing to follow the directions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
As of now, Binance has neither agreed nor denied ET's report. The company has also not made any official statements about returning to India up until now. These past few months have not exactly been smooth sailing for Binance as it had to face legal issues in multiple international locations.
Last month, Nigerian authorities had summoned Binance CEO Richard Teng to investigate Binance's suspected involvement in processing illicit transactions without being able to identify and report them.
After losing operational permits in India, Binance was also banned in Philippines for not having secured necessary licences.
In order to assist Teng with managing the working of Binance, the company appointed its first ever board of directors earlier this month.
In December 2023, when India said it was going to block all crypto firms operating that did not have an approval from the FIU, the Binance app disappeared from Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store in India. It seems that the platform does not wish to leave out the Indian market because of regulatory non-compliance.
Meanwhile, the exchange has sold the entirety of its business in Russia to CommEX owing to compliance concerns.
