Main Indian crypto trade CoinSwitch Kuber had 5 of its premises searched by anti-money laundering brokers on Thursday over alleged violations of foreign exchange legal guidelines.

In response to an Aug. 25 report from Bloomberg, India’s Enforcement Directorate searched CoinSwitch Kuber’s places of work in addition to the residences of its administrators and CEO Ashish Singhal.

A supply informed the publication the crypto trade is underneath suspicion of buying shares price greater than $250 million in contravention of foreign exchange legal guidelines, in addition to being non-compliant with sure know-your-customer (KYC) necessities.

The Directorate of Enforcement is a federal enforcement and intelligence company working underneath the Ministry of Finance. In response to its web site, the company’s main goal is the enforcement of acts together with the Overseas Trade Administration Act and the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act.

CoinSwitch Kuber mentioned in an announcement: “We obtain queries from varied authorities companies. Our strategy has at all times been that of transparency.”

“Crypto is an early stage trade with plenty of potential and we repeatedly have interaction with all stakeholders.”

Launched in India in 2020, CoinSwitch Kuber is without doubt one of the largest crypto exchanges in India alongside WazirX and CoinDCX, with over 18 million registered customers.

CoinSwitch Kuber reached “unicorn” standing final yr after elevating $260 million in a Sequence C funding spherical led by Coinbase enterprise capital arm Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. The corporate can also be backed by Sequoia, Paradigm, Ribbit, and Tiger International.

The actions comply with a continued clampdown on the cryptocurrency area in India.

Earlier this month, Enforcement Directorate froze roughly $8.1 million in funds from crypto trade WazirX, alleging that the crypto trade facilitated transactions by unnamed fintech corporations “to buy crypto belongings after which launder them overseas.”

The regulatory implications of India’s crypto transactions tax

This yr has additionally seen the federal government introduce two new legal guidelines demanding crippling taxes on crypto-related unrealized positive factors and transactions.

In a latest survey performed with 2042 Indian cryptocurrency traders by crypto trade KuCoin, 33% of survey respondents famous they have been involved by ambiguous authorities laws that would deter potential traders from crypto.