Binance and other global crypto exchanges have begun restarting operations in India, which banished them late last year for not having registered with authorities. 

Binance, which operates the world’s biggest exchange, said on Thursday that its website and app are back online in India, after it registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in May. KuCoin, headquartered in Seychelles, restarted its business in India in April, after registering with the FIU, a spokesperson said. 

Registered exchanges with the FIU need to collect a transaction tax introduced in 2022 from their clients. KuCoin has been collecting the tax since it restarted, its spokesperson said. A Binance spokesperson said the firm “believes that its current positions are in accordance with applicable laws”. The levy, known as Tax Deductible at Source, caused volumes to plummet in India and led to complaints from locally-based exchanges that they were at a competitive disadvantage. 

India clamped down on nine offshore cryptocurrency exchanges late last year, saying they were operating illegally there and were required to register with the FIU to offer trading in the South Asian nation. That list included Binance, KuCoin, Kraken and HTX. 

Binance returns to a changed competitive landscape in India. WazirX, its local rival and former partner, has suspended trading, withdrawals and deposits after suffering a US$235 million hack last month. 

  - Bloomberg