Binance Officially Registers With Indian Regulator for $260 Bln

Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, recently received official registration from India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) after a prolonged dispute with regulators. The FIU's approval marks the second time an offshore crypto exchange has been granted such a registration, the first being KuCoin. However, the news has been followed by a 2% decline in Binance's native cryptocurrency $BNB.

Binance was one of several global cryptocurrency exchanges that India's FIU had blocked for violating local anti-money laundering laws. As a result, the mobile applications of these exchanges were removed from Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store for Indian users. In the wake of these actions, Binance has been working to obtain official registration from the FIU to resume operations in India.

According to a report by the local news outlet Moneycontrol, Binance is now set to resume its operations in India, having acquired official registration with the FIU. The agency's director, Vivek Aggarwal, confirmed in a workshop conducted by the Bharat Web3 Association in New Delhi that KuCoin has already resumed operations after paying a penalty of INR 3.45 million ($41,303). However, Aggarwal stated that Binance is still in the process of determining its penalty and compliance proceedings.

India is the world's second-largest crypto market, having received $260 billion in cryptocurrencies between July 2022 and June 2023, according to a 2023 global report on crypto by Chainalysis. With its renewed approval and pending compliance procedures, Binance could soon reopen its doors to the country's significant crypto user base.

In summary, Binance has gained official registration with India's FIU, paving the way for the exchange to resume operations in the country. While the penalty and compliance procedures are still being determined, the news is a positive development for Binance and its expansion into the world's second-largest crypto market.