6 months ago
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While KuCoin has already paid a fine of $41K and resumed operations in India, Binance is yet to complete compliance proceedings.
Late last year, the Indian government through the Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) blocked access to nine offshore cryptocurrency exchanges led by Binance Holdings Ltd, KuCoin, Huobi, and Kraken among others. However, the Indian government has now initiated a comeback process to register the blocked offshore crypto exchanges.
On Friday, FIU IND announced that Binance and KuCoin are now registered virtual digital assets service providers (VDASPs) in the country. As a result, both rival cryptocurrency exchanges are now competing for the cast Indian crypto market.
However, Binance has not yet completed its compliance proceeds case, thus the reason for the unpaid penalty. As Coinspeaker previously stated, Binance is willing to pay a fine of up to $2 million to the Indian government to obtain an operating license.
“Binance is registered but the compliance proceedings are not completed because the amount of penalty has to be decided by me and that hearing is still going on,” Vivek Aggarwal, the head of FIU, noted.
On the other hand, KuCoin has paid a penalty of about $41k to the Indian government and resumed its operations in the country. The Indian government is also relooking into cases of other offshore cryptocurrency exchanges led by Kraken, Gemini, and Gate.io.
Meanwhile, Bitstamp and OKX cryptocurrency exchanges have submitted their plans to exit the Indian market.
Direct Implications of Binance and KuCoin’s Reentry into the Indian Market
India is one of the most coveted crypto markets around the world due to the high population that is already invested in digital assets. With the Indian government having already enacted tough and clear crypto regulations, more offshore web3 companies are focused on entering the Indian market.
The re-entry of Binance and KuCoin into the Indian market will set a clear path for other offshore web3 companies to enter the country. The announcement by the Indian regulator is an indication the government is no longer hostile to the crypto industry as previously perceived.
Furthermore, the Central Bank of India has not been as vocal against the cryptocurrency industry as several years ago.
The entrance of Binance and KuCoin into the Indian market will have a profound impact on the respective native coins. As for Binance, the adoption of BNB by the Indian market will further fuel the bullish prospects.
According to the latest market data, BNB price hovered around $595 on Friday, up 5.3 percent in the past week. The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $91 billion, is on the verge of rallying to a new all-time high soon if the bullish momentum holds.
On the other hand, KuCoin’s native coin KCS has gained over 6.6 percent in the last week to trade at around $10.5 on Friday.
