Apple removes Binance, Kraken and other crypto apps in India

The apps of as many as eight cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, Mexc and Kucoin, have disappeared from the Apple App Store in India, less than two weeks after the global companies were flagged for operating “illegally” in the country. The Financial Intelligence Unit, an Indian government agency tasked with scrutinizing financial transactions, issued show-cause notices to nine cryptocurrency companies late last month, claiming they were not complying with India’s anti-money laundering rules.

The Financial Intelligence Unit has asked India’s Ministry of Information Technology to block the websites of all nine services in India. Other exchanges that have removed their apps include Huobi, Gate.io, Bittrex and Bitfinex. Bitstamp, another exchange named by the Financial Intelligence Unit as a violator, is still operating on the App Store in India.

The apps are still listed on the Google Play Store in India and their websites are still accessible in the country. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In recent quarters, many Indian traders have turned to global cryptocurrency platforms in an apparent attempt to evade taxes. India began taxing virtual currencies last year, imposing a 30% tax on gains and a 1% tax on each crypto transaction. Cryptocurrency exchanges in India, including a16z-backed CoinSwitch Kuber, B Capital-backed CoinDCX and former Binance partner WazirX, still require strict “know your customer” verification before onboarding new users, but that is the case with many global platforms it’s not true. (Trading volume on WazirX has dropped a staggering 97% in two years, in part because many traders have moved to the global app.)

Indian cryptocurrency exchanges CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber have previously warned the New Delhi government that its new tax policy on cryptocurrencies will cause many users to turn to decentralized exchanges or seek non-compliant services. On Tuesday, CoinDCX announced that it will offer incentives to customers who move crypto assets from global exchanges to its Indian platform.

India has historically taken a tough stance against cryptocurrencies and companies that support cryptocurrency trading. The Reserve Bank of India implemented a cryptocurrency ban in the country about five years ago. Although the ban was ultimately struck down by India’s Supreme Court, the Reserve Bank of India has since insisted on outlawing cryptocurrencies, with its top officials likening virtual digital assets to a Ponzi scheme.

Coinbase, another popular global cryptocurrency exchange, stopped onboarding new customers in India last year. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claimed in 2022 that the company faced “informal pressure” from the Reserve Bank of India.