Crypto Exchange OKX Terminates Services in India

Table of Contents

• India Flags Numerous Exchanges for Operating Illegally
• Indian Customers to Close Margin Positions by April 30
• OKX Delists USDT Pairs

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX will reportedly terminate its services in India. The exchange advised customers to close their positions by April 30. 

Due to local regulations, crypto exchange OKX will no longer offer its services in India. The exchange told its customers to close their positions by April 30, 2024. After the indicated date, customers may only withdraw funds from the exchange. 

India Flags Numerous Exchanges for Operating Illegally

According to a report by TechCrunch, crypto exchange OKX told its customers that it would terminate its services in India. In an email, the exchange advised its customers to close out their positions by the end of April, stating that withdrawals would only be allowed after that. OKX’s decision comes after Apple and Google pulled the exchange from their platforms.

Apple and Google removed OKX and several other exchanges after the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said they were operating illegally in the country. In January, Apple removed the apps of nine major crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken and OKX, after the FIU issued warnings to the exchanges over alleged non-compliance with India’s anti-money laundering regulations (AML). 

In a December statement, the FIU, which oversees suspicious financial activity in India, said the exchanges failed to register with the agency and did not comply with national AML and anti-terrorist financing regulations. According to the FIU, an exchange providing services to Indian customers must register as a “reporting entity.” After failing to do so, the FIU asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block these exchanges in India.

In its statement, the FIU said:

“Director FIU IND has written to Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs of said entities that are operating illegally without complying with the provisions of the PML Act in India.”

Days after Apple removed the apps, Google said it would too remove the apps of Binance, Kraken, Huobi, Bitstamp, Gate.io. KuCoin, Bittrex, Bitfinex, and MEXC Global, from its app store, Google Play. 

Indian Customers to Close Margin Positions by April 30

The exchange advised its customers to close out all their margin positions and withdraw funds by April 30 but said the company’s DeFi web3 services would remain available to Indian customers. 

In a statement, an OKX spokesperson said:

“We recently sent an email to customers in India who had historical CeFi accounts on OKX, and we are helping them close out those accounts.” 

Adding;

“As we offboard those customers their assets will remain secure on the OKX platform. This decision was made in response to recent local regulations directed at offshore exchanges that make CeFi trading available in India. OKX’s DeFi Web3 services remain available to developers and creators in India.”

OKX Delists USDT Pairs

Despite receiving in-principle approval to offer its services in Singapore and announcing that it would launch a crypto exchange and web3 wallet service in Brazil and Argentina, OKX delisted Tether’s USDT stablecoin on its exchange in the European Economic Area (EEA). OKX no longer supports USDT trading pairs in the EEA in preparation for enacting MiCA regulations in the EU.   

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.