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India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has issued non-compliance notices to 15 crypto service providers and ordered action to take down their apps and URLs in India for operating without meeting the country’s anti-money laundering requirements.

Summary

India’s FIU issued non compliance notices to 15 offshore crypto platforms, including Weex, Blofin, WOO X and WhiteBIT. The watchdog sought takedown action against the platforms’ apps and URLs for operating without meeting PMLA requirements. Crypto platforms serving Indian customers must register with FIU IND regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the country. The action follows earlier enforcement against major offshore exchanges, including Binance, which later registered and paid a 188.2 million rupee penalty. The Financial Intelligence Unit-India said Tuesday that the notices were issued under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, naming Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT and Guardarian.

FIU targets 15 crypto platforms over PMLA compliance Alongside the compliance notices, FIU-IND issued takedown notices covering the applications and URLs used by the 15 platforms after finding that they were operating illegally without complying with provisions of the PMLA.

The action was taken under powers linked to Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology rules amended in 2025.

India brought virtual digital asset service providers under its anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework in March 2023. The requirements apply to businesses offering crypto-to-fiat exchange, digital asset transfers, custody and other services that provide control over virtual assets.

Platforms carrying out those activities for Indian users must register with FIU-IND as reporting entities and follow requirements covering record keeping, reporting and other compliance obligations under the PMLA.

Physical presence in India does not determine whether the rules apply. An offshore company serving Indian customers can fall within the framework even if it has no office or legal entity in the country.

The latest action follows a series of measures that have expanded FIU oversight of crypto transactions. In June, the watchdog sought OTC transaction records exceeding $10,000 from at least three major exchanges, with platforms required to preserve relevant records dating back to January 2026.

The requested information included beneficial ownership details, intermediaries involved in private transactions and information about the entities behind the deals.

Earlier this year, FIU-IND tightened crypto KYC rules for service providers operating in the country. The framework included stronger identity checks, record-keeping requirements and suspicious transaction reporting obligations.

Offshore crypto activity remains under scrutiny in India The enforcement action comes days after The Economic Times reported that some Indian crypto users were moving stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT to overseas gift card services.

According to the report, platforms based in countries including Sweden, Germany and Singapore allow users to convert cryptocurrency into gift cards that can then be spent in India on goods including groceries, fuel and gold.

Such transactions can take place without users first moving their crypto through a domestic exchange, according to the report.

Offshore trading has remained a concern for Indian authorities as they try to track crypto transactions for tax and compliance purposes. In July, crypto.news previously reported that Indian tax authorities had raised concerns over trading through offshore exchanges, private wallets and peer-to-peer transactions.

India has since expanded parts of its international tax reporting framework to cover specified crypto assets, central bank digital currencies and some digital money products. Under updated tax reporting rules, financial institutions face revised account identification and tax residency verification requirements.

The measures form part of a regulatory structure in which India taxes crypto transactions while requiring platforms serving local customers to meet financial crime and reporting rules.

Crypto gains are subject to a 30% tax, while a 1% tax deducted at source applies to qualifying virtual digital asset transactions.

India has previously blocked major offshore exchanges FIU-IND used a similar enforcement route against larger offshore exchanges in December 2023, when it issued show-cause notices to nine platforms for failing to comply with the country’s registration requirements.

Binance, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex were among the exchanges targeted at the time.

Authorities subsequently sought restrictions on access to their websites. By January 2024, access to several exchanges had been blocked in India, while their apps faced restrictions on major mobile app stores.

KuCoin later registered with FIU-IND and resolved its earlier non-compliance after paying a penalty. Binance followed after months of regulatory discussions.

In June 2024, FIU-IND imposed a 188.2 million rupee penalty, equivalent to roughly $2.25 million at the time, on Binance for operating in India without meeting its anti-money laundering obligations.

The exchange later completed its FIU registration in August 2024 and resumed operations in India after a seven-month restriction. Its registration made the platform subject to the reporting and compliance requirements applied to other registered crypto businesses serving the country.

Bybit later went through a similar process. The exchange paid a 92.7 million rupee penalty after authorities cited persistent non-compliance and subsequently secured FIU registration.

FIU warns users about crypto and NFT risks The latest notice extends enforcement to a group dominated by smaller and medium-sized offshore platforms, including exchanges as well as services that facilitate swaps and other digital asset transactions.

FIU-IND did not announce financial penalties against the 15 companies in Tuesday’s release. Its action covered non-compliance notices and requests to take down public access to their applications and URLs.

The watchdog separately cautioned users about the risks associated with cryptocurrency products and non-fungible tokens, noting that such products remain unregulated in India.

“It is pertinent to mention for the safety and awareness of general public that the Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky,” FIU-IND said. “There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.”

WOO X, a leading global centralized digital asset exchange, and Payward Services, the B2B infrastructure platform from Payward, the company behind global crypto platform Kraken, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring crypto trading to WOO X’s European users through Payward Services’ trading-as-a-service offering.

Under the agreement, the companies intend to enable spot crypto trading for WOO X’s EU users powered by Payward’s regulated European infrastructure and licensing. WOO X will join a growing roster of financial institutions using Payward Services’ trading-as-a-service offering, including bunq, one of Europe’s leading neobanks.

“We’re excited to bring WOO X the power of fifteen years of Payward’s regulated infrastructure, creating an easy path to meet customer demand with an expanded trading offering and the right licenses to unlock crypto trading across the EU. When partners work with Payward Services, they can launch crypto trading in a few weeks without building complex in-house infrastructure,” said Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services.

About WOO X WOO X is a leading global centralized digital asset exchange built by traders, for traders. Backed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) and engineered by a premier team of quantitative traders, engineers, and technologists originating from top-tier Web2 and Web3 projects, WOO X delivers an elite trading environment tailored for both retail and institutional investors. The platform is globally recognized for its superior trade execution, offering deep aggregated liquidity, ultra-tight spreads, and zero-slippage execution.

Prioritizing user trust and platform integrity, WOO X features an industry-first, live-updating Proof of Reserves and Liabilities transparency dashboard. The exchange offers advanced trading architecture, fully customizable workspaces, and professional-grade infrastructure that supports flexible, professional withdrawal standards alongside top-tier asset custody solutions. Driven by a corporate culture of compliance, technical excellence, and relentless innovation, WOO X continues to pioneer transparent, high-performance trading environments for the global digital asset ecosystem.

For more information, visit https://www.wooxpro.com/ ; https://woox.io/ 

Payward Services is the B2B infrastructure platform built on 15 years of operating Kraken, one of the world’s largest crypto platforms. Through a single integration, partners can access crypto and tokenized equity trading, fiat and stablecoin payments, yield, lending, prediction markets and derivatives. Fintechs, banks, brokerages, payment providers, exchanges, consumer tech platforms and asset managers can use Payward Services to offer digital assets to their clients without building the stack themselves.

For more information, visit https://www.payward.com/payward-services .

Risk Disclaimer

The content above is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, solicitation, or offer to buy or sell any product or service.

Cryptocurrencies and related instruments involve significant risks, including extreme volatility. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, experience, and risk tolerance before engaging in any crypto-related activities. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified independent financial advisor before making any decisions.

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On July 24, 2025, Taiwan-based trading platform WOO X became the latest victim in a bruising summer of crypto breaches when attackers made off with roughly $14 million in unauthorized withdrawals from nine user accounts, forcing the exchange to pause withdrawals while it investigated and promised to reimburse affected users.

New chain-analysis shared by Yehor Rudytsia, Head of Forensics and Incident Response at Hacken, paints the post-heist picture as far more organized than a one-off theft. According to Rudytsia, the exploit, which Hacken dates to July, resulted in total losses of about $14 million and was carried out by a DPRK-linked actor tracked in law-enforcement circles as “TraderTraitor.”

Hacken says it is actively monitoring the on-chain movements and is supporting recovery efforts by flagging malicious addresses to the wider security community. The laundering choreography, as mapped by Hacken, left half the stolen funds on EVM networks and the rest on Tron and Bitcoin.

In the last 24 hours, on-chain traces show that the bulk of the EVM-side proceeds, more than $7 million, were routed through THORChain and swapped into Bitcoin, a technique observers have increasingly flagged as a common laundering path after major exchange thefts earlier this year. Rudytsia noted that THORChain’s native cross-chain swap functionality has repeatedly been used to convert large sums of ETH and ERC-20 tokens into BTC, making it attractive to sophisticated operators moving stolen assets across ecosystems.

On-chain Evidence Hacken’s report also documents the handling of the Tron-denominated portion (about $2.5 million in TRX). Those funds, the team found, were converted into USDT, bridged to Ethereum via LayerZero infrastructure, and from there, some of the bridged USDT was again pushed to Bitcoin through THORChain.

On-chain evidence of a nine-figure USDT transfer arriving on Ethereum from a LayerZero executor appears in public transaction records from October 1, 2025, which match the pattern Hacken described.

Complicating the trail, part of the funds that surfaced on Ethereum were sent to a wallet previously tied to the BingX hot-wallet exploit in 2024, itself attributed by investigators to North Korean-linked groups, suggesting either reuse of laundering infrastructure or coordination across multiple thefts.

The address that received those transfers is publicly visible on Ethereum explorer records, and investigators say the link deepens the picture of an organized laundering chain connecting multiple high-profile incidents.

Taken together, the movements indicate that roughly $8–9 million from the WOO X breach was bridged on the same day from Ethereum to Bitcoin, almost entirely via THORChain, leaving an estimated 90% of the stolen value now sitting on Bitcoin addresses as perpetrators accelerate conversion into the oldest and most liquid on-chain asset.

Security teams monitoring the flows warn that once funds consolidate on Bitcoin, conventional tracing and intervention become harder and the risk of eventual cash-out increases. Rudytsia told Blockchain Reporter that Hacken is continuing to monitor the accounts and will push flagged addresses to exchanges and compliance partners in the hope of freezing or otherwise freezing flow paths where possible.

For now, the case is a fresh reminder that as cross-chain tooling gets more powerful, it also gives sophisticated attackers faster, lower-friction routes to turn stolen tokens into harder-to-trace assets, and that forensic work on multiple chains, together with cooperation from on- and off-ramp services, remains the only immediate line of defence in today’s time.

AUTHOR

Mushumir Butt is a seasoned crypto journalist with over three years of experience reporting on the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. At Blockchain Reporter, he delivers insightful news, in‐depth project reviews, and precise price analysis and predictions. With a strong background in SEO and digital marketing, Mushumir excels at breaking down complex trends into clear, accessible content, ensuring readers stay ahead in the fast‐paced crypto space.